Love and Gymnastics (Modern AU)
by makayla-angelic
Summary: After meeting each other at a local gymnastics training center when they were young, Hans and Elsa grow up as friends and train together. But when they reach their teens and start having feelings for each other, not only do things change in their relationship, so does their career. Will things be the same for them as they survive Elite, championships, even... an Olympic dream?
1. First Meeting

1~ First Meeting

"Mommy are we there yet?" asked the excited five, nearly six-year old girl named Elsa.

"Soon," said Iduna, Elsa's mother.

"I can't wait," said Elsa bouncing in her seat anxiously. "I want to flip and jump."

"And now you can stop flipping and doing cartwheels in the house," said Elsa's mother. "Daddy wasn't too happy about cleaning up a broken vase."

Elsa giggled. She had been practically doing flips since she started walking at ten months. By the time she was three, she had taught herself a cartwheel, a handstand, a forward roll, and a backward roll. And she could almost do a full split. At first, Mama and Papa tolerated it, but things started getting out of hand when their second born child, Anna, bumped her head trying to copy Elsa. Then they decided enough was enough.

"Let's put her in Gymnastics," said Adgar. "It'll be good for her."

Thus then, Flipstar Gymnastics was built, and Mama got Elsa signed up a couple weeks after the gym opened.

"We're here," said Mom turning into the parking lot in front of the huge, gray building.

Elsa quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and tried to open the door.

"Hold on little button," said Iduna pressing the unlock button on the car.

Elsa opened the door and got out. She ran to the door and opened it, and went inside the gym.

"Elsa, wait!" said Iduna walking inside after her daughter.

Inside the gym, Elsa's jaw dropped. It was like she had walked into a dream. Boys and girls of all ages were busy training around the gym. There was the smell of chalk, mat, and sweat in the air. But to Elsa, it smelt glorious. And it felt like home. She didn't even notice her mother walk up behind her.

"Hello," said a heavy-set, middle-aged man walking up to them. "My name is coach Kai, and i teach the girls and boys gymnastics team program here."

"Nice to meet you coach Kai," said Iduna shaking his hand. "It's a pleasure to be here."

"Thank you," said Kai. "It's also my pleasure to help your little one get started."

"I'm going to jump on the trampoline!" Elsa said removing her shoes and socks, then running across the tumbling floor to the trampoline.

"Elsa come ba- oh, be careful!" yelled Iduna nervously.

Kai chuckled. "Enthusiastic," he said.

Elsa bounced high in the air, laughing and doing splits in the air and turning. Then she bounced her way to the end of the trampoline, turned around, and did a backflip into the foam pit.

"Wow," said Kai impressed. "How old is she?"

"Five, but she'll be six in a couple of weeks," said Iduna.

"What's her name?" Kai asked.

"Elsa, Elsa Anderson," said Iduna.

"Elsa," said Kai with a smile. "Pretty name."

"Thank you," said Idune.

In the foam pit that was filled with yellow blocks, Elsa pulled herself out from the bottom and slowly treaded her way to the other side of the foam pit, pulling blocks out of her way. There, she saw a boy with ginger hair lying there in the foam pit by himself.

"Hi," said Elsa.

"Hi," said the boy staring up at her.

"Why are you here alone?" Elsa asked.

Hans shrugged. "Because i feel like it," he said.

"What's your name?" Elsa asked.

"Hans," said Hans. "Who are you?"

"Elsa," said Elsa. "I'm new here."

"Me too," said Hans.

"How old are you?" asked Elsa.

"Seven," said Hans.

"I'm five," said Elsa holding up five fingers. "But i'll be six soon."

"And i'll be eight soon," said Hans.

"Maybe if we can be friends you can come to my birthday party?" asked Elsa.

Hans suddenly felt shy and sunk back a bit behind the foam blocks.

"Maybe," said Hans.

Elsa smiled. "Can you do a cartwheel?" she asked.

"Yes," said Hans.

"A handstand?"

"Yes,"

"A forward roll?"

"Yes,"

"A split?"

"Yes,"

"Wow, you can do a lot!" said Elsa.

"Can you?" asked Hans.

"Yes," said Elsa. "And i almost have a split."

"Elsa come here!" Iduna called out to her.

Elsa climbed out of the foam pit and said "bye!" to Hans. Elsa ran up to her mother who put an arm around her.

"So," said Kai. "I suggest we put your daughter on pre-team and see how things go from there. If she shows proficiency, then she can immediately jump to the team program."

"You really think so?" asked Iduna in surprise.

"I have no doubt," said Kai.

"When will she have her first practice?" asked Iduna.

"Come back this Friday at three PM. Pre-team and team usually come in at that time, and we open at that time as well," said Kai.

"How long are the practices?" asked Iduna.

"Non-compete and pre-team lasts about two hours. Team training lasts about four hours. Five hours on Saturday," said Kai.

"Wow," said Iduna rubbing the back of her head. "That's alot."

"Well, thank God for breaks, right?" said Kai.

"Yes," said Iduna. "Thank God."

They shook hands again, and promised to see each other again on Friday.

"Come on sweetie," Iduna said to Elsa. Elsa followed her mother out, and as she did, she saw Hans at the water fountain getting a drink. Elsa waved goodbye to him and Hans smiled and waved back.

Hans loved gymnastics so far. It was a breath of fresh air and a sense of peace for him to escape the chaos at home. Like Elsa, he too started walking early, and developed a natural talent for teaching himself skills. Hans had twelve older brothers. They either picked on him or ignored him entirely. Lars wasn't so bad however. In fact, he encouraged Hans to start gymnastics. And when Hans did, his eleven other brothers joked on him, and said that it was a "girl sport", despite him showing that both men and women alike did it. Hans was fed up living in a house where nobody seemed to care and understand, except for Lars and his mother. His father practically looked down on him as well. So, Hans made it his duty to impress his father. He came to Flipstar Gymnastics three weeks ago and impressed coach Kai. Hans was immediately assigned to the TOPS boys gymnastics team. And so far he was doing well. Just a few more practice, and he would have his roundoff back handspring. He couldn't wait to have his first meet in December. Hans finished his drink of water and headed to the tumbling floor where his fellow teammates sat with coach Kai. Hans smiled to himself, hoping that Elsa would return.


	2. Becoming FriendsFirst Meet

2~ Becoming Friends/First Meet

That Friday after school, Elsa rushed home. When she got there her mother had a pretty pink leotard for her. Elsa excitedly changed into it and rushed back downstairs.

Iduna drove Elsa back to Flipstar and let Elsa inside. Kai welcomed them back, and Elsa walked over to where the other pre-team girls were. Iduna filled out the paperwork,

and everything was all set to go. Coach Kai had Elsa stand up and introduce herself. Elsa was a bit shy, but she managed. Then practice began. Iduna smiled and watched

her daughter do forward rolls and backward rolls on the floor. Then on the trampoline, Kai spotted back handsprings. At 3:30 PM, the boys team came into the gym. Elsa was

happy to see Hans again.

"Hi!" Elsa said smiling as she got a drink at the water fountain.

"Hello!" said Hans happily taking off his shoes and socks.

"Ready to have fun?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah, you?" asked Hans.

"I am!" said Elsa excitedly.

"Elsa, come over here sweetie!" Kai said from over at the balance beams. Elsa knew she had to get going.

"See you later!" Elsa said to Hans and went running over to Kai and her other teammates.

Later, after practice was over, Elsa could not stop talking about her first practice. She talked about it all the way home in the car, during her bath, and at dinner. Iduna and

Adgar were wiped out from the work day, but they listened to their daughter. Baby Anna listened with wide eye wonder. Elsa even told her parents about Hans.

"Who's Hans?" asked Iduna.

"A nice boy i met at practice mommy, he has ginger hair!" said Elsa.

"Oh, does he?" asked Adgar.

"Yeah, he does," said Elsa. "He's in boys TOPS."

"You'll have to point him out for me honey, so I can see what he looks like." said Iduna.

"Ok, i will," said Elsa.

After Elsa ate, she was put to bed along with Anna. A week passed. Elsa continued to get to know Hans. Iduna got to meet Hans and his mother, and they greeted and shook

hands. Elsa's birthday was coming up and Elsa passed out invitations at school and at gymnastics.

"Will you come to my party?" Elsa asked Hans, handing him an invitation.

"Yes," said Hans shyly taking the envelope.

The following day after handing out invitations, Iduna got a call from Kai saying that Elsa had the made the Level 4 girls TOPS team.

"Hooray!" Elsa shouted, jumping from couch to couch, doing cartwheels and handstands in the house until Mommy and Daddy made her stop. The following day, just Three

days before Elsa's birthday, Elsa had her first, real team practice. Elsa came in with the team and they did a lot of warm stretches involving putting one leg on a stacked mat,

and the other on the floor and sliding into a oversplit. This was difficult for Elsa, since she still couldn't do a full split. After they all warmed and stretched the body, they got

started. The first event they practiced was beam, which Elsa was good at. Kai was impressed with how well Elsa was progressing. She already almost had a roundoff back

handspring. Even Hans stopped to watch her. Three days later, on her sixth birthday, Hans showed up to Elsa's birthday. Hans's brother's teased him for wanting to go to a

girl's birthday, but he just ignored them. When Hans got there, he greeted Elsa's parents, and said hello to little Anna, who giggled shyly. Anna thought Hans was cute.

Thanks to global warming, the weather was very warm for December. So everyone was outside. The backyard was dressed in yellow streamers. The boombox was playing the

latest kids music, and the grill had food cooking on it. Hans handed Elsa the gift he picked for her, and Elsa smiled and thanked him. Hans, Elsa, and Anna all played

icebreakers with the other kids. Hans and Elsa even stood up and performed gymnastic tricks for them. Soon, it was time to eat. Everyone washed their hands, then headed

back outside to eat. There were hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, and potato salad. To drink, there was the homemade raspberry iced tea Iduna made. It was refreshing.

Everyone at the table gathered hands and said grace, then they all began to eat. Once they were finished, Iduna brought out Elsa's cake. It was pink and white and it had her

name written in pink icing and the number 6 candle in the middle. They all sang the Happy Birthday song, then Elsa made a wish and blew out the candle. It was a fun time.

After the party, they opened up presents. Elsa squealed in delight as she got what she wanted. Hans was happy that Elsa liked her gift from him. It was a pair of butterfly

earrings. They all played a few more games, then the party was over.

A week after Elsa's birthday, the first level 4 meet arrived. It was a Saturday. Elsa woke up at eight in the morning. Her competition leotard was laid out along with the warm

up suit. Elsa brushed her teeth and took her bath. Then she put on the long-sleeved tan and silver Leo. then she put on the black warm up suit with the team name written in

rhinestones on the back of the jacket. Lastly, Elsa slipped on her shoes. Iduna pulled Elsa's hair into a ponytail, curled the ponytail end and bangs, and tied the team ribbon

around it. Elsa thought she done, but then Iduna put eye shadow, rouge, and red lipstick on her. Elsa squealed in delight. The family climbed into the car, and they drove out

to Weselton Gymnastics, the nearby gym in which they were competing at. Elsa and her family walked inside to the front desk where Elsa checked in for the meet. Then they

all walked inside the main gym. Parents and other adults sat on the bleachers on the side. The gym was decked out with all the equipment as usual. Judges tables were at

each event. Elsa greeted her teammates and hugged them as her mother, father, and little Anna got settled on the bleachers.

"Are you ready?" asked one of Elsa's teammates, a girl named Ericka.

"Yes, but I'm nervous though," said Elsa.

"Me too," said Ericka. "I don't want to fall."

Elsa scanned the array of people that filled up the gym. Elsa was looking for Hans, but she couldn't see him, if he was here yet.

"You girls start warming up on floor," said Kai. "The meet is going to start soon."

All the Level 4 girls began to warm up splits, jumping jacks, pushups, situps, and mini jogs around the floor. While Elsa was stretching her middle split, she saw Hans on the

other side of the gym with his family. Elsa wanted to call out and wave to him, but she knew it was time to get focused. She would see Hans after the meet. Then, it was

time. Everyone removed their warm up suits and set them to the side. Elsa's heart began to beat fast, her stomach felt ice cold. The first event was floor, and there were

three other girls that were going first before Elsa, so, she had time to breathe a little before she went. But not for long. When it was her turn, Elsa got up, saluted the judges,

then walked on the floor.

"Come on Elsa, you got this!" Kai, her family, and eleven other teammates yelled as Elsa waited for the music to start. Then, it started. Left arm circle up and down, right

arm circle up and down. Bounce, bounce, straight jump, split jump, land, finish. Step, lunge, handstand hold, forward roll, finish. Step, lock, turn, sashay, turn. Step, kick,

handstand to bridge, kickover, finish. Run, leap, hop. Slide to floor, turn, kneel, split, turn, stand up. Prance, prance, weight transfer, stand. Backward roll to push up

position, kneel, stand. Half turn, finish, prepare. Run, roundoff back handspring, rebound to finish. Pose, pose. That was the entire girls Level 4 compulsory floor routine.

When Elsa finished, everyone clapped, and Elsa saluted the judges again, and walked off the floor and patiently awaited her score. The judges then flipped the numbers on

the sign and turned it around for all to see. It was a 8.75. Not bad. So far, Elsa's first Level 4 met was going good. Meanwhile, Hans had just finished his parallel bar routine.

Everyone clapped for him, that is, except his mean brothers. Hans didn't care. He was having a blast. Elsa did OK on bars. She got a 8.0. She had bent her arms on her mill

circle. On beam, she did excellent, getting a 9.15. She only wobbled a little on her handstand and her heel snap turn. On vault, she got an 8.1.

Since boys had two events more than girls, the boys got out later than the girls. Elsa got second place on beam, second place on floor, third place on bars, and fourth place

on vault. All together, her full total score was a 34.00, third place all-around. Hans got an 8.4 on floor, third place. A 9.12 on vault, second place. An 8.0 for rings, fourth

place. A 9.23 on parallel bars, first place. A 8.72 on high bar, fifth place. Lastly, an 8.24 for pommel horse, or the mushroom, which the lower skilled level boys used. That

was fourth place. All together, his score was 51.71, also third place all-around.

"I'm so proud of you!" Hans's mother said hugging him.

"Good job," said his father.

"You did well Hans," said Lars.

The rest of Hans's brothers said nothing. After the meet, everyone mingled about, talking and eating.

"Hans!" Elsa cried excitedly running to him, ribbons in hand.

"Hi!" said Hans smiling.

"I got third place all-around, and second place on bars and beam, what did you get?" Elsa asked.

"I got third place all-around as well," said Hans. "I got first on parallel bars, but i got a fifth on high bar."

"Hey, don't be sad! Hopefully you'll do better next meet!" Elsa said. Then she gave Hans a hug, which made him blush a little. After the free after-meet lunch, everyone went

home. Hans was sad. His mother seemed to be the only one proud of him.

 _I'll show them._ Thought Hans on the car ride home. _I'll show them all!_

The following Monday, Kai congratulated everyone who did their best at the first meet. He gave pointers on what to do to improve, so they could all get better scores next meet.

"I love gymnastics," Elsa said one night at dinner, while it was snowing outside.

"I'm so glad you do," said Iduna. "And Daddy and I are always proud of you no matter where you placed. You can be anything you want to be."

And Elsa knew it was true.

 **Author's note: Thank you so much A Frozen Fan and LionHunter for the feedback! I have never gotten reviews so quickly on a story before! I hope you all will stay interested! 3**


	3. Fun, Training, and Laughter

3~ Fun, Training, and Laughter

 **Author's note: sorry, that the text is not neatly spaced as it is in chapter 2. For some reason, every time I tried to indent the space on the Doc Manager, it wouldn't let me do it. I hit save and displays the text all bunched together instead of the way I want it. -_-**

Hans and Elsa had their second Level 4 meet three weeks after the first one. Hans did better on the high bar that time, going from fifth place to third. But he still got third place all-around. Elsa got second place on beam again, tied with another girl. The whole team took home second place as well. Elsa and Hans were getting stronger and having a better sense of skills. For the third Level 4 meet, they travelled two and a half hours away to Bergen. Now it was time for the regional meets, meets out of the area. A gymnast who makes it to regionals or states, hopefully makes it to the championship meets. After championships meets, the season usually ends for the year, around May. Then, if a gymnast is ready, he or she trains for the next skill level, then the season starts all over again in early winter. After the third meet, there were only three meets to go until the championships. For the third meet, Elsa got first on beam for the first time, and Hans even got second place on pommel horse, despite a fall. When Spring break arrived in April, there was a sleepover at the gym. Elsa excitedly packed her bags to go. Anna was three now, and she really wanted to go with her big sister. But Anna was so rambunctious and mischievous. So she couldn't go. She threw a fit, but Elsa gave her baby sister a hug and promised her next year she could go.

At the gym sleepover, it was 80% girls, and 20% boys. So, Elsa was happy when she saw Hans show up. Everyone played games. They all played hide and seek first, hiding any place possible. Hans found Elsa in the foam block pit where they first met and Elsa squealed and laughed when Hans tagged her "it". They all ran around and had fun outside in the warm, spring air. Coach Kai even gave them bubbles to blow, and jump ropes to jump with. Hans watched as Elsa jumped sixty times in a row without stopping. Hans found an earthworm and chased Elsa around the gym parking lot with it, and Elsa squealed in both delight and disgust. Once, Hans tripped and fell on top of Elsa in the grass. They awkwardly looked at each other in the eye, then Hans got up, and they were quiet as they brushed grass and dirt off of them.

"Pizza's here! Everyone come wash your hands to come eat!" Kai called out. While everyone chomped down on the good pizza, Kai set up TV and video games in the lounge room. One of the boys took a huge swig of his grape soda, then let out a huge burp.

"Ew!" cried majority of the girls, and the boys snickered. After eating pizza, ice cream was dished out. They went to the lounge room after dessert to play video games, watch TV, and play board games. Elsa, Hans, and a few other people played candyland. At ten PM, it was time for bed. Girls slept on the lounge floor and couch, and the boys slept on the tumbling floor. They all awoke by nine AM and someone brought in donuts and orange juice for them. Afterwards, they all packed up to go home. After the gym Spring Break sleepover, there were only four more Level 4 meets to go. Sadly, a week before the regional championships, Elsa sprained her wrist badly and was unable to perform. Elsa was heartbroken, so after the meet, Hans got Elsa some flowers to cheer her up. With three more meets in the season to go, Elsa was determined to do them well.

The last meet was held on May 10. Elsa did well, and so did Hans. May passed, and school was out. Elsa and her family went on vacation for a week at a lake. They fished, told campfire stories, and walked through the woods. Hans and Elsa even hung out over the summer. They saw each other at the mall, went to see the latest kid's movies, and of course, practiced together. Elsa was gaining weight, not in fat, but muscle. So was Hans. Everything was going great, and Hans and Elsa were happy in the sport.

Elsa sighed in frustration as she failed on her kip for the millionth time that day. She walked over to the chalk bowl and sprinkled more chalk and water on her grips, then went back to the bar. It was September, and Elsa was training Level 5, and so was Hans on the boys team. Elsa was going on seven, and Hans would be nine soon. Elsa was doing well so far, except for her kip. She could cast to squat on the low bar and jump to the high bar, she had her dive roll, front handspring, and two back handsprings in a row on floor, she had her front hand spring on the vault table, and she had her cartwheel on the beam, but she could not get through with that darn kip. Hans was having trouble with his on the high bar. The kip is what is often the stumping block of Level 5 gymnasts. You jump, grab the bar, extend your body out in a straight line, then you bring your toes back to the bar in a pike position, and you have to pull yourself up on the bar with straight arms, all while shifting your hands to pull yourself up and over the bar. To help with kips, Kai set up "pull your pants" stations, because to get the concept of the motion of a kip, it was like pulling your pants up. Elsa spent most of her bars practice lying on her back, with a wooden practice bar, legs up, "pulling her pants up."

"That's it! pull! Shoulders over the bar!" Kai said to Hans as he practiced his kip.

"It's hopeless," said Elsa while they were on their snack break. "I can't do a kip."

"Yeah," said Hans glumly peeling his orange.

"Stop saying it's hopeless," said Kai. "Some things just take a little bit longer than others."

"But it's hard!" whined one girl.

"Yes, it can be hard," said Kai nodding his head. "But I don't want anyone here saying that 'I can't,' alright?"

"Yes sir," said the boys and girls.

Two weeks later, Elsa got her kip, and so did Hans. And once they had gotten it, they had got it good. One beautiful, crisp, fall day, Hans and Elsa were playing at the park. The leaves on the trees were so pretty. Hans and Elsa made leaf piles and were jumping into them. They climbed the acorn tree's and swung from the branches.

"Tag! You're it!" said Elsa touching Hans, and she giggled and jumped down from the tree and ran, with Hans chasing her. He chased her around the swing sets, the duck pond, the slides, and monkey bars. He got her near the bare raspberry bushes.

"Now you're it!" Hans said running from Elsa.

"I'm going to get you!" said Elsa laughing and chasing after him.

And so, Hans and Elsa were best friends, as close as they could be. Hans was very happy, and so was Elsa. For they thought, there was nothing more sweeter in the world than their friendship.


	4. Years Pass

4~ Years Pass

And so the years passed. Hans and Elsa did well in Level 5, and went to Level 6. Then, they made it to Level 7, where they reached another stumping block. The Giants on bars. In gymnastics, almost every skill you would ever learn passes through a handstand of some sort. When you get to Level 7, you learn that on bars. A Giant requires a lot of hand and shoulder shifting. Straight arms are required as well. You cast your body up into a handstand on the bar, and you use your upper body strength to push yourself around, up, and over. That was a giant. A straight body circle around the bar that passes through a handstand. Giants were also required to gain momentum to release skills such as a flyaway dismount. Elsa was getting good on her flyaways, but she was still having trouble doing the skill combination of a kip, cast to handstand, and her Giant. Elsa was a tiny nine-year old, but she had a lot of strength. Anna was now doing gymnastics. She was six-years old and a Level 2 gymnast. On Balance Beam, Elsa had gotten her back handspring. Doing a back handspring on floor was okay, but doing one on a four- inch wide piece of equipment was another thing. But since beam was her strongest event, Elsa learned fast. Within a matter of weeks, she went from practicing them on the line on the floor, to a practice beam with mats surrounding her, to a regular beam with Kai spotting her with mats around her. One of the main keys to doing a back handspring on beam, was closed shoulders, arms by ears, hands in lock position. Also, you had to have a good walkover. Without a good walkover on beam, you weren't having a good back handspring. Now, Elsa was practicing roundoffs on the beam. Hans was practicing handstands on the parallel bar, and he practicing support and leg change skills on the pommel horse.

All the new skills weren't easy, but Hans, Elsa, and everyone else were willing to put effort in it. Elsa was still doing good on beam, and even her bar skills improved, even though bars was her weakest event. For Hans, his weakest events were pommel horse and high bar. Hans and Elsa passed Level 7 and went to Level 8. Then Level 9, where Elsa got first place balance beam champion, and all- around regional champion. Hans got first for parallel bars and floor. Then, when Elsa was twelve, and Hans was fourteen, they at last made it to Level 10. Elsa was beautiful, holding the promise of a stunning woman. Her body was lean and well-proportioned. She had visible arm muscles and broad shoulders. Her legs were slender and smooth, but strong. Elsa wore her hair in a bun during practice sometimes, and it made her look older and more woman like when she did. Hans was muscular all over, and he was handsome. He started shaving and growing out sideburns. Coach Kai was growing older too, he was in his fifties now, but luckily, he was still strong enough to teach.

Hans watched happily as Elsa released from the high bar, did a Pak Salto and caught the low bar. She then did a kip, cast to handstand, switch grip to Stalder, straddle release back up to the high bar, another kip, cast to handstand, then did two Giants before doing a double back tuck flyaway release move and sticking the landing. Hans clapped and Elsa flashed him a charming smile.

"Your bar skills have really improved," said Hans as Elsa re-chalked her grips at the chalk bowl.

"Thank you," said Elsa still smiling. "You've improved too."

"I hope so," said Hans, thinking about his hard to impress father.

After bars, Elsa and Hans went to floor where they practiced their double back pike, their front handspring to a one and a half twist, and their roundoff to a one and a half full twist to a front layout. On vault, Elsa did a roundoff back handspring to a double back tuck. Hans did a half-on to a double back tuck. Elsa's Level 10 beam routine was fun and graceful to watch: from one end of the beam, she jumped to a straddle, then pressed up to a handstand, legs split in the air, then step down. Kneel on beam, prepare, wolf turn. Stand up, split jump, sissonne, two full turns. Turn, prepare. Back handspring step-out to back layout step-out, finish. Dance choreography to front layout step-out, finish. Arabesque leg hold. Prepare, one and a half L-turn. Switch leap, sissonne, to a standing back tuck. More dance moves and poses, prepare, run roundoff, full twist dismount. It was a hard routine indeed.

When Elsa got home from practice, she felt more wiped out than usual.

"Hello Elsa, how was practice?" Adgar asked.

"Pretty good. Tiring as usual," Elsa said stretching her arms.

"Phew! You smell ripe!" Anna said holding her nose.

Elsa sniffed her underarms. Ever since she had hit puberty, Elsa had been coming home from practice more sweaty and stinky.

"I'll go wash," said Elsa heading upstairs.

In the bathroom, she filed the tub with hot water, poured bubbling soap in, honey-scented oil, oatmeal, and a little bit of Epson salt. Elsa sank into the tub and closed her eyes. It felt nice. Baths like these always made her poor, sore body feel so much better. Be kind to your body and your body will be kind to you. That was her motto. Elsa thought about Hans. Things at home were crazier than ever for him, and Elsa knew that one day, he would have enough. Hans had even stopped by Elsa's house one Saturday afternoon, when she was home alone. Hans said that he had to leave his house, he was "tired of it all," and he wanted to stay over at her house for a little while. Elsa knew exactly what he meant. So, they just chilled in front of the TV and played video games, drank soda, and ate popcorn. They didn't talk much. That had been over a month ago. After her bath, Elsa ate dinner and finished the rest of her homework. Anna bugged Elsa while she was trying to work, and Elsa politely told her sister they could play later. Anna was nine now, and a Level 5 gymnast. Anna looked up to Elsa, and strived to become good just like her.

"Elsa, I need you to help me with my kip!" Anna said leaning over Elsa's shoulder. "Will you please?"

"Of course I will," said Elsa smiling and hugging her little sister. "I can help you with anything."

"Hooray!" said Anna.

Being a Level 10 gymnast was not easy. Elsa and Hans were so wiped out, it seemed like they barely had any time to do homework. They suggested homeschool. Once, Elsa fell asleep in school, and the teacher had to wake her up. To keep herself going, Elsa started to drink coffee at times. At the Level 10 regional championships, Elsa was nervous. It seemed like the biggest meet she had ever been too. The competition area was large. The lights overhead were bright and shiny, and many people filled the seats. Hans was upset. He had hurt his wrist and had to wear a brace. He couldn't do floor, he couldn't do vault, and he barely made it through rings, parallel bar, high bar, and pommel horse. Elsa tied second place for Level 10 all-around with another gymnast. She tied first place for someone on beam, she got third place on bars, third place on vault. Hans got fourth on rings, third on parallel bar, fourth on high bar, and fourth on pommel horse.

"This was the worst meet ever," said Hans glumly when it was over.

"Don't talk like that," said Elsa. "You did wonderful."

"My stupid wrist," said Hans stretching it.

"It'll be OK," said Elsa holding his hand, and Hans blushed at the intimate contact.

Before Hans and Elsa knew it, the Level 10 season was over. Hans and Elsa just spent the summer practicing skills. After Level 10, now what? Hans and Elsa talked to Kai, and they all talked to Elsa and Hans's parents, and they agreed that Hans and Elsa should continue up to the elite level. They weren't the only gymnasts thinking about elite either. So, they felt enthusiastic about their choice.

"There's an Elite Qualifier meet on December twelfth, that's a Saturday at noon," said Kai pointing to his calendar. "You think you two can handle the training?"

"Well, we made it this far, we might as well try," said Elsa. And Hans nodded in agreement. And that's what they did.


	5. Elite

5~ Elite

In the days leading up to the elite qualifier meet, Hans and Elsa trained harder than ever before, every day of the week except Sunday, for five to six hours. Hans and Elsa were training thirty to thirty-six hours a week. They would come in the gym and spend one hour or so stretching, jumping, and running. Then they would spend an hour and a half on each even they went to. Elsa would have Anna walk on her back to relieve the cricks and knots, and it felt so good. Hans and Elsa would be so sore and tired from training they teared up. They were ever so grateful for those Sunday rest days.

At long last, the day of the qualifier arrived. Elsa and Hans were nervous. Elsa wore her hair tied back in a bun, and she wore an indigo leotard that set off her skin and eyes.

"You look nice," said Hans, scanning up her body.

"Thanks, you too," said Elsa admiring his blue and black men's Leo.

Hans and Elsa stopped by the gym, where everyone wished them good luck. Then Hans and Elsa grabbed their bags, got in the car, and set off to the meet. When Hans and Elsa arrived, they checked in at the front desk, then went into the main competing area.

"Alright, so here's the deal," said Kai as they were taking off their warm up suits.

"Girls will start on floor, while boys will start on vault. Then girls will go to bars, while boys go to parallel bar, then girls will go to vault, while boys go to floor, then girls will go to beam while boys go to high bar. After the girls are done, they will wait in the lounge while boys finish up on rings and pommel horse. Are we clear?"

"Yes," said Elsa and the three other girls, and Hans and the four other boys. Elsa was nervous. She looked around the competing area to see that there were quite a number of gymnasts trying out for elite. But Elsa just didn't feel ready. Neither did Hans. It was hard to become an elite gymnast. But they had to try. This was an optional elite qualifier, meaning they could choose from an array of skills to perform for the judges as long as it meets the criteria. For girls, you needed at least a 33.00 all-around to qualify as new elite. For boys, it was a 53.00. luckily, there were elite qualifier meets held every month of the year, so if a gymnast didn't make it the first time, he or she had another chance. Elsa knew she needed to get all nine's on each event for the best shot. Then the meet began. Elsa did her twists and doubles on floor, she did her Stalders, Pak salto, Geinger and double back tuck flyaway on bars. On vault, she did a roundoff back handspring to a double back pike, and on beam she did her two back layout step-outs, her side aerial, her leap and jump series to a standing back pike, and for her dismount she did two standing back handsprings to a one and a half twist. Elsa got a 9.25 on floor, a 9.17 on bars, a 9.2 on vault, and a 9.36 on beam. Added all together was… a 36.98! Elsa couldn't believe it. she had done it. she was officially a junior elite gymnast.

"Congratulations," said the lady as she handed Elsa her certificate. Hans's score was a 53.75, so he had done it too.

"We're elite! We're elite!" Elsa cried hugging Hans.

They went out to eat to a local Italian restaurant to celebrate. Then they went home. It had been a glorious day.

Hans and Elsa had their first elite meet on January twelve. Elsa was thirteen, Hans was fifteen. The elite meet they were competing in was the Arendelle Cup. Hans and Elsa were amazed to see the vast competing area, the shining bright lights, the camera people, and the narrator people who were live on TV in detail explaining things about the meet. Elsa's first event was beam, and she was nervous about being live on TV, and with so many people in the stands watching her, and camera's flashing all around her. This was her strongest event. She had this. She told herself. Elsa saluted and mounted the beam from the side. It was a press handstand to a pike through and support. So far so good. After a few leaps and turns, it was time for her first acro skill. She did a back handspring to two layout step-outs… and fell off the beam. The narrators were on TV explaining that since it was a first elite meet for all the new qualified, the pressure was on them. Scared that she had just fallen on live TV, Elsa quickly got back on the beam and continued her routine. Her second acro skill, a side aerial, she usually had no problem with it, but for some reason, Elsa underrotated her body, and she fell off the beam again.

"Elsa Anderson seems to be having some issues of what usually is her strongest event," the male narrator said as Elsa climbed back on.

"And you know, like we said earlier, this is their first year as elite, so you really feel a lot of pressure from the jump from the JO program to elite. The routines have changed, training has changed, people have changed," said the female sitting next to him.

Now, rather than calming down, Elsa was in full panic mode. She couldn't believe this was happening. Her third acro skill was a split leap with a half turn to a back pike. And she fell on that as well. When Elsa finished her beam routine, she left the apparatus in tears. She knew her score was terrible, so when it appeared on the overhead screen, she didn't look. In elite gymnastics, a gymnast's score is no longer limited to a maximum of ten. Instead, he or she is scored by the FIG, (International Gymnastics Federation). The system incorporates credit for the routine's content, difficulty, and execution. Elsa's beam routine was difficult, containing C, D, and E skills. Her entire beam routine was worth 15.00. Elsa only got a 6.5 for difficulty, and 5.4 for execution. All together her beam routine was only an 11.9, leaving her in 7th place. Frazzled about her awful beam performance, Elsa was shaky on all her other events, getting scores that were a bit low as well. After the meet, Elsa spent her time crying in the bathroom. When she came out, Hans was waiting for her.

"I looked like a joke out there," said Elsa blowing her red nose into a tissue.

Hans held her in a hug. "It's going to be okay," he said. "It was our first elite meet. There's many more to come."

"But I fell three times on beam! I did horrible!" Elsa cried.

Hans grabbed some more tissue and handed it to her. Elsa wiped her eyes and blew her nose again.

"I didn't do so hot either," Hans said trying to make her feel better. "But it's going to be alright."

To try and cheer Elsa up, Elsa's parents and Hans took her out to her favorite ice cream place for a double scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Elsa felt glum all weekend. She felt a little better when she went to Anna's Level 6 meet. She was happy to see her sister was such a little fireball on floor. Elsa was good on beam, Anna was good on floor.

And things did get better. Filled with aggressive energy after doing poorly at the last meet, Elsa did a lot better in the second one. She even impressed the judges with her fiery comeback.

"Elsa Anderson returns and shows us her true potential of what she can do. This is only the beginning for her, and I believe if she really sets her mind to it, there's just no limit of how far she can take it," said the male narrator at the end of the second elite meet.

Hans was impressing people too. He was starting to become known for the parallel bars, floor, and vaults he did. Hans and Elsa's first year as elite gymnasts were hard, tiring, but exciting. They travelled to places by car and plane they never imagined they would go to. For worlds, they travelled out of the country and competed in the United States, China, and even City of Jesolo, Italy. One day, halfway through their second year as elite gymnasts, Hans and Elsa, and everyone else in the gym who were elite were bustling around and training harder than usual. The national championships were coming up, and competition was fierce this year. But before that, they had the national qualifier, for those who wanted to make the national team. There were two national teams. A junior one gymnasts ages fifteen and below, and a senior one for gymnasts sixteen and up. Sometimes, those who made the national team usually continued on to the Olympics.

"I hope I can get named to the junior national team this year. That would be so cool," said Elsa, who was now fourteen.

"I hope I can get named to senior," said Hans who was sixteen.

Hans and Elsa had visited the national team training camp once. It was huge, with a capital H. it had the gym where you train of course, a cafeteria where the gymnasts could eat. A dormitory, where they slept, one for boys, and one for girls. There was a leisure area with a TV, video games, and other forms of entertainment. There was even a library, filled with hundreds of books to read. And last but not least, a classroom with teachers so that gymnasts still on the high school level could continue with home-school like education. it seemed like a dream come true for Hans and Elsa. Sadly, Hans did not qualify for the men's senior national team, nor did Elsa for women's junior national. Both Hans and Elsa had missed it by one point. Elsa missed it by one point because she had an out of bounds on floor. Hans missed it by one point because in one skill on the high bar that he was supposed to connect to a release move, he didn't, and added another Giant before doing so. It was frustrating, but getting so close inspired them to try again next time. Luckily, they still had worlds to go to. On June 10, they packed their bags and headed to France. Last worlds, Elsa had gotten second place for balance beam world champion. She hoped this year she would get first.

The world's meet went well, and Elsa was feeling pretty good. She got third place on floor, fourth place on vault, fourth place on bars. She had to get first on beam! She had to! It was her best event and she was getting stronger and better each passing day.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, your first place balance beam world champion is…"

Elsa smiled and leaned forward out of her seat, ready to walk up and claim gold victory.

"Malissa Turney of the United States!" the lady announcer read.

"What?!" Elsa though and slid back into her seat with disappointment. Even Hans looked disappointed for her. Cameras flashed and people clapped as Malissa walked up proudly and stood in the first place spot. A wreath of flowers and a small gold medal placed around her neck. Malissa had a huge narcissistic smile on her face as she waved and blew kisses at everyone. Elsa rolled her eyes.

"And in second place for balance beam world champion, Elsa Anderson of Norway!" the announcer read next.

Elsa slightly smiled and stood up and walked to the second place spot. She was also given a wreath of flowers and a small silver medal. Elsa looked over at Malissa who looked over at her, and they gave each other a polite handshake and smile. After the ceremony, they all headed back to the hotel where Elsa sat in the eating areas, bummed out. She picked at her food and didn't look up when Hans slid in the seat next to her.

"Come on Elsa, perk up! You did great!" Hans exclaimed.

"I don't understand why I didn't get first," said Elsa pushing her plate of food away from her. "I should have at least tied or something."

Hans didn't really have an answer. "That's just how the scoring works," was all he could say. "I got second for parallel bars."

Elsa sighed heavily. "I just wish I could get better." She said placing her face in her hands and sighing deeply.

"You will," said Hans. "You will."

After worlds, Hans and Elsa took a break from gymnastics. They would return in the fall.

 **Author's note: I'm so tired right now, but I really wanted to get another chapter up. I WOULD have gone to bed earlier last night if Toonami hadn't pulled an April Fool's joke and not show the new episode of Samurai Jack. -_-**


	6. Something New

6~ Something New

Hans and Elsa resumed their career on October first. They were a bit shaky from being gone so long, but they soon got settled. They couldn't believe it, in January would mark their third year as elite gymnasts. It was amazing how much time passed. Elsa was almost fifteen, Hans going on seventeen. Anna would be a Level 7 gymnast this year, hopefully. Elsa smiled. She remembered when she was a Level 7. That was nearly six years ago, when she was nine years old. Now she was an elite gymnast almost fifteen years old.

Hans walked into the gym one day and saw Elsa standing on one end of the tumbling trampoline looking annoyed.

"What's wrong?" asked Hans walking to her.

"I'm trying to do a full twisting double back tuck," said Elsa. "And it hasn't been going so well."

"Really?" asked Hans, surprised she wanted to learn such a hard skill.

"Yeah," said Elsa. "And everytime I do it on the floor with Coach Kai, I fall on my butt."

"Hm," said Hans. "Show me one on the tramp, and then maybe I can help you. I know how to do a full double back."

"You do?" asked Elsa.

"Yep," said Hans. "Now show me one before Coach Kai gets here."

So Elsa showed him. She did a roundoff back handspring on the tramp part, and did the full twisting double back tuck onto a mat that was sitting on the foam pit, and she landed on her bottom, just like the other million times.

"Hm," said Hans examining what he saw. "You need a bit more height so that you have more time for the second tuck after you finish the full twist on the first one. Your body is still a bit underrotated so you need to look for your landing sooner. You also have a lot of tumbling power which is a good thing, but you need to have control over your landings."

"All that?" asked Elsa stepping off the trampoline.

"Yes," said Hans. "I can spot you on the floor if you like."

"Uh, Hans, I don't think that's a good idea," said Elsa rubbing the back of her neck.

"C'mon, I know how to spot people tumbling," said Hans.

"I really don't know about this," said Elsa.

"Just one," Hans practically begged.

"Alright," sighed Elsa. "What have I got to lose?"

Hans set up a mat in one corner of the floor to help Elsa absorb her landing. Elsa stood on the corner opposite to it.

"Are you ready?" asked Hans standing next to the mat in position to catch Elsa.

"Yeah, I'm ready," said Elsa. She took a deep breath, and went for it.

For the first part, it all went good, but Elsa didn't rotate her body around for the second tuck, and she landed right on top of Hans.

"Oof!" cried Elsa as they hit the ground.

Hans opened his eyes and looked up at Elsa. She stared back at him. For a few seconds, they seemed to be staring into each other's soul, and Elsa didn't want to get up and move off of him, neither did Hans want to move off of Elsa. It was just like that time some years ago when they were playing outside at the sleepover and fell on each other. That time had been awkward. This time was different. All at once, Elsa got up from on top of him and turned around, embarrassed.

"Sorry about that," she said.

"No you're fine," said Hans. "Accidents happen."

"Um, you won't tell anyone will you?" Elsa asked.

"No unless you want me to," said Hans.

For the rest of practice, Hans and Elsa barely spoke to each other. It seemed silence was the best key to diffuse the new energy between them. Their teammates picked up on it and asked them what was wrong, but Hans and Elsa shook their heads and said, "nothing," the next day at practice, the energy between them was a little better, but Hans knew that things had changed between them. Elsa knew it too. After all, they had been friends for a long time: why _wouldn't_ things change between them?

 **Author's note: Sorry this chapter is very short. Chapter 7 will be slightly short as well.**


	7. Potential

7~ Potential

Elsa turned fifteen and Hans turned seventeen. They went on and trained and practiced as usual. Then, for the first time ever, Elsa claimed her first ever elite all-around title in the Arendelle Cup. Excited that she claimed it, Elsa barely slept that night. Two days later, Elsa came to practice all smiling and happy.

"I see someone's still feeling their victory," said Hans.

"Yes, indeed," said Elsa. "This was so unexpected."

"Maybe this time you'll get first place balance beam at worlds," said Hans.

"Oh, I hope so, and to be named to the women's junior national team," said Elsa.

"All of that will be good," said Hans.

Then, they warmed up and went to go practice. Hans started on the high bar, Elsa went to beam. Hans practiced for about ten minutes, then he got distracted and watched Elsa practice her acrobatic skills on the beam. He smiled at her as she did.

" _She's such a great gymnast, and beautiful too,"_ thought Hans. " _So good on that balance beam."_

Hans was a great gymnast too. Last worlds, he claimed first place on vault and floor, which was unexpected, but at the same time, it wasn't. Like how Elsa claimed first place all-around for the Arendelle Cup. Hans looked at Elsa, then he looked at himself, and something clicked inside his mind. If he and Elsa had come so far and done so well, who knew how even farther they could go? The Olympics. It stood out like a sore thumb in front of him. He wanted to do it. he wanted to get there. Although the next Olympics for the summer wouldn't be another two years, Hans was sure that would give him and Elsa enough time to train, do good at the championships, and qualify to go to the trials. Hans walked over to Elsa on the balance beam.

"Elsa, can I talk to you for a second?" Hans asked.

"What's up?" asked Elsa jumping down from the beam.

"I know you might find this hard to believe, but, I think we should try to go to the Olympics," said Hans.

"Us? Go to the Olympics? You're very funny Hans," said Elsa folding her arms.

"I'm serious," said Hans. "Think about it. This is our third year as elite and never before have you claimed a first place all-around title in an elite meet! I've never gotten floor and vault for first place! You're excellent on beam and hardly ever wobble, let alone fall, well, except for the first elite meet we ever had."

"That's true," said Elsa. "But even the best sometimes don't get chosen. You have to be the _best_ of the best. We can't even get named to the nationals team and we've tried for over two years now."

"Well, certain things take time," said Hans, "And I think we can do it."

"Well Hans, if you want to try and go for the Olympics, you go for it, I won't stop you, but for me, I just don't know," said Elsa looking at the ground.

"If you don't want to go to the Olympics, then I don't want to go either," said Hans turning his back to Elsa and folding his arms.

Elsa scoffed. "If that's how you truly feel, then fine," said Elsa turning her back to him as well. They stood like this for a few seconds, then Elsa sighed and softened her stance. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."

Hans smiled. "No, it would not," he replied.

"But if we're really considering this, we need to tell coach Kai," said Elsa.

"Agreed," said Hans.

They went into the office where Kai was sitting at his desk.

"Hello coach Kai, can we talk to you for a second?" asked Elsa.

"Sure, what's up?" asked Kai.

"We want to go to the Olympics," Hans said, just like that.

Kai stared up at Hans and Elsa, blinking. He was unable to say a word. At last he cleared his throat and said, "Well, I'm sure you two know that's a big journey to take."

"Yes, we know," said Hans. "That's why we've come to you to see what you thought. Do you think we're great gymnasts?"

Kai thought before answering. "I think you two are excellent gymnasts. You both have come a long, and rather impressive way, and as for the Olympics, I definitely think you two have a great chance if you really set your minds to it, so yes, I think you both can make it to the Olympics." He smiled at them.

"What would we have to do to ensure we have a good shot?" asked Hans.

"Well of course, training is always the key," said Kai. "But also it would be a good choice to update your skills. Especially you on the balance beam Elsa, I know you can do harder skills."

"Yes sir," said Elsa.

"Another thing that would be good is to get named to the nationals team this year. That way you can go to the camp and get the special Olmypic training that you both would benefit from," said Kai.

"But that would require Hans and I to leave home, away from all our family and friends," said Elsa.

"Yes, it would," said Kai. "But as you see, that's the sacrifice of a sport."

"Okay," said Hans. "We understand. We can do this, at least we'll try."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Kai. "Now, let's get to training."

And so it began.


	8. Upgrade

8~ Upgrade

Hans and Elsa went home that night and told their family their plans.

"So, what do you think Mom and Dad?" asked Elsa that night at her house. "Am I making the right decision?"

"Sweetie, I told you before you can do anything you set your mind to," said Iduna. "I would love to see you go to the Olympics."

"Also, you are excellent on beam," said Adgar. "I'm sure the judges look at not only what is his or her score on each event, but what is their strongest event and how well he or she performs difficult skills."

"Coach Kai said I had to upgrade my skills," said Elsa. "And that's exactly what we're doing."

"It would be so cool to see you in the Olympics Elsa!" said Anna excitedly. "So amazing."

Meanwhile at Hans's house, his brother, with the exception of Lars, had a different view.

"You? Go to the Olympics? You barely do well as an elite!" laughed Henrik.

"You'd be such a joke," added Henry.

"If Hans makes it to the Olympics, then I must be dreaming," said Victor.

"I'll pinch you to wake up!" laughed Henry.

Hans clenched his fork in anger. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!" he yelled.

Lars looked at his other brothers, ashamed of their childish behavior.

"Cut it out, all three of you!" he said sternly.

"Why? Do you really think little ole Hansie's going to be a great Olympic star?" asked Victor.

"You know Victor, you've got nerve, and the rest of you all can't even do half the moves Hans can do, so stop letting your jealous attitudes get the best of you and shut up!" said Lars.

Victor stood up angrily. "I'd like to see you make us try," he replied.

"Gladly," said Lars standing up as well.

"If you boys don't mind, we're all trying to have dinner," said their father. "Hans, stop all that nonsense Olympic talk." he said pointing his fork in Hans's direction.

Hans placed his face in his hands. He was fed up with it all. He was tired of all the abuse from his brothers, his perfectionist father who he never seemed to impress. Only Lars and his mother seemed to understand. Hans wanted to go to the Olympics. He _needed_ to go. He wanted to win a gold medal and wipe the smiles off his brother's face, to show his father, that he could do something amazing in life. He would show them. He would prove anyone who ever did him wrong.

Going to practice the next day made Hans feel better, especially seeing Elsa's smiling face. He pushed all the mean things his brothers did in the back of his mind, and focused on his skills. At the next competition, both Hans and Elsa led their teams in the second rotation. Elsa got first for beam, second for floor, second for vault, and third for bars. She tied for first place all-around. Hans got first for floor, first for vault, third for rings, first for parallel bars, fourth for high bar, and third for pommel horse. He tied for second place all-around for the men's. Amazed with their still ever improving performance, the narrators came up to Elsa and Hans after the meet, and talked to them live with them still on TV and asked them if they had any plans for the future. Hans and Elsa told them they were considering the Olympics. The next day Elsa was sitting at the table getting her homework done early, when Anna came in with a newspaper and put it down on the table in front of her.

"Looky! Looky!" Anna said Ecitedly.

Elsa looked at the newspaper. At the top in big, black, capital letters, it read: LOCAL GYMNASTS PLAN TO GO FOR OLYMPIC DREAM. Under the headline, it showed two pictures side by side each other. Elsa on the left, mid-air in a split jump performing on the balance beam, and Hans on the right, on the parallel bars performing.

"You two are starting to become well known," said Anna.

Elsa showed Hans the newspaper, and he was surprised to see it, just like Elsa was. Hans updated his routines with harder skills, and so did Elsa. For beam, instead of a back handspring to two layout step outs, she now did a back handspring to a regular back layout, no step-out, you land on both feet. Instead of a front layout step-out, she now did a Barani to a wolf jump. A Barani was a no-handed roundoff. She also added a switch leap, tour jete, to a standing back pike, a difficult combination. A tour jete was like a switch leap with a half turn. And for her dismount, she did two back handsprings to an arabian full. That was also a difficult dismount. On floor, she kept the double back pike, she put in a double layout for her second tumbling pass, the full twisting double back tuck she had been working on for her third, and for her final tumbling pass, she put in a combination of a roundoff to a one and a half twist, to a roundoff back handspring into two full twists. On bars, she added a difficult release combination of a piked Jaeger to a Pak salto, and then Stalder to a flight backward with a half turn back up to the high bar. For her bars dismount, she did a double layout flyaway. On vault, she did an Armanar, Hans's favorite vault to do, which was a roundoff back handspring to a two and a half twists. Elsa could choose to do a half on to the skill if she wanted to for bonus pints.

In the days leading up to the national qualifier, Hans and Elsa seemed like they were busier than ever. Hans and Elsa left school to do home training so that they could have more time to practice. It was a tearful goodbye, from friends, but Hans and Elsa knew that this was the cost of the sport. Elsa and Hans were nervous, but excited at the same time. They knew that once they made the National team, they would leave home to go away, and they would miss everybody, and vice versa. Hans and Elsa knew they had to take things one day at a time. The day before the national qualifier meet, Hans and Elsa hung out at the mall. They shopped at different stores, then sat in the food court with something to eat.

"Ready for the meet tomorrow?" Hans asked as Elsa sipped her soda.

"I guess so. Are you?" asked Elsa.

"I am," said Hans. "I hope we make it. we've been training so hard." He popped a few French fries in his mouth.

"I just wish certain things in sports weren't so limited," said Elsa sighing as she picked at the bread on her sandwich.

"What do you mean?" asked Hans.

"Just thinking about this Olympic stuff," said Elsa.

"Are you having second thoughts?" asked Hans.

"No… sort of. It's just, well, think about it Hans. The summer Olympics comes every four years in August. For winter, it comes every two years. So every four years, you have thousands of gymnasts who compete against each other, trying to be the best of the best. If you're on a national team, you're in good standards. If you get lucky enough to make it to the trials, which probably only a couple hundred of those thousands do, you compete against a couple of those hundreds, some from your country, and it all boils down to little of no chance when only five gymnasts from each country get chosen to compete in the biggest event of their lives. That's it. Five from each country out of hundreds to thousands. Not including alternates," Elsa said.

"And what's stopping us?" said Hans leaning on the table.

Elsa was silent. Then she spoke. "I don't know, I guess I'm scared I'll go out there and make a fool of myself or something."

Hans looked into Elsa's blue eyes. Deep down, he didn't like to see her upset about anything, and wanted to ease her worry. But did he dare tell her how he felt for her? That he wanted to be more than friends? But also he felt, that if he said or did something wrong, it might change things between them and then everything wouldn't be the same. So he decided to keep his mouth shut, for now.

"I'm sure you'll do great," said Hans. "I believe in you. Also, I think we should take it one day at a time, it'll be easier. So today, let's enjoy this day off from practice. Tomorrow, we kick butt at the national qualifier and make the team." He raised his cup of soda. "To making the national team?"

Elsa smiled. "To making the national team," she replied lifting her soda up as well. They clinked cups, then drank.

Elsa and Hans were both up early to prepare and get ready for the meet. Even though the women's wouldn't be until the afternoon, Elsa still wanted to be ready early and get her mind in the zone, and so she could watch Hans. Elsa walked into the busy lobby where she saw Hans wearing his uniform, he was kneeling on the ground and frantically searching through his gym bag.

"Oh no, where are my grips?" He cried nervously. "I can't perform on high bar and parallel bar without my-" Suddenly, he pulled them out. "Oh, here they are, heh, heh."

Elsa chuckled. "Maybe if you clean out that junky gym bag of yours you wouldn't be frantically searching at the last minute," said Elsa throwing in some advice. On one occasion, she had been through Hans's gym bag. She had found old candy wrappers and balled up pieces of paper along with socks, a sweat band, and even a hairbrush with hair still in the bristles.

"Okay Sassy Sally, if you say so," said Hans standing up and slinging the bag over his shoulder.

"You know I'm right," said Elsa looking at the time on her phone. It was almost time for the men's national qualifier to begin.

"I guess I better get going," said Hans. "I'll see you when the women's is about to begin."

"Okay," said Elsa smiling.

Elsa watched nervously as Hans performed his routines. For the most part, things went well. On floor, Hans almost fell on one of his tumbling passes, a double front tuck, but luckily, he managed to stick it, and he did not make any other mistakes for the rest of his routine. Elsa breathed a sigh of relief when Hans had finished on all the events. Then, the result ceremony. Elsa awaited nervously the results of the people who would be chosen to be on the men's national team, junior or senior. Then, Elsa and Hans heard his name.

"Hans Westagard," said the announcer.

"Yes!" cried Elsa, happy for him, and Hans was so excited he could hardly stand!

"I knew you could it!" said Elsa giving him a hug after the result ceremony was over.

"But it's not over yet, we still have yours to get through," said Hans.

The women's national qualifier started at one in the afternoon. Hans was also nervous as he watched Elsa perform her routines. For the most part, she did well too, although she lost her balance a bit on beam, but luckily, she stayed on and never fell off. It was just nerves. She told herself. Get it together. The people in the stands cheered when Elsa showed off her new routines. Even the judges were impressed. And the narrators were amazed. Everything had gone well for Hans, except for a stumble on floor, and everything had gone well for Elsa, except for a slight balance loss on beam. When it was time for the result ceremony, Elsa was bouncing in her seat with anxiety. It seemed to take forever with the announcing. Then, Elsa heard her name.

"Yes! I did it!" Elsa cried jumping up and down. "We did it!"

Hans was officially a member of the men's senior national team, and Elsa was officially a member of the women's junior national team. Next year, she would be promoted to senior.

"I'm very proud of you two," said Kai.

"Thank you," said Hans.

Suddenly, Hans and Elsa felt a sense of sadness come over them. Now that they were named to the national team, they would soon have to leave to go away, and their friends and families knew it too.


	9. Hans and Elsa Leave Home

9~ Hans and Elsa Leave Home

It was a week after Hans and Elsa made the nationals team. They were at the gym, practicing as usual, when coach Kai walked up to them.

"Hey you two," said Kai. "I just got off the phone with the head coach from the National's training camp."

"What did he say?" asked Elsa.

"You guys will be leaving this coming Tuesday," said Kai. "He's excited and is thrilled to have two new addictions to the teams."

"It seems so soon though," said Hans. "I knew we'd be leaving soon, but not _this_ soon."

"I know it's going to be rough," said Kai. "But you two can handle it. I see it in you."

Hans and Elsa looked at each other. "This is it," they thought. Then, Elsa did something she hadn't done before, she walked up to Kai, and hugged him.

"Thank you, for everything," she said.

Hugging her back, Kai said, "You're welcome Elsa. I'm very proud of you, very proud."

And both Hans and Elsa knew it was true.

"But I don't want you to go!" Anna said sadly hugging her sister when she told Anna, her mother, and her father the news.

"I have to Anna," said Elsa. "It's the sacrifice of the sport."

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Adgar asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," said Elsa. "Actually, right now, I feel more sure than any other moment in my life."

"We want you to be safe and happy," said Iduna. "Your father and I don't want you do this just because Hans is doing it too."

"I'm not playing follow the leader," said Elsa. "I've thought about it, and I want to go. I've made the women's national team. I have to go."

Adgar and Iduna looked at each other, then they looked back at Elsa.

"Whatever happens Elsa, know that your father and I love you, and we want to see you succeed. However, don't think that if this Olympic stuff doesn't work out, you suck or Dad and I won't be proud of you, because we are always proud of you, it's when you don't put effort in is what makes a difference," said Iduna.

Elsa shook her head. "I know." She said. "I understand."

Upstairs, Elsa began to pack her bags. As she did, her phone rang with a call from Hans.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, just checking to see what you are doing," said Hans.

"I'm packing, you?" asked Elsa.

"Yeah, I am," replied Hans. "You should have heard my brothers earlier, I think they are thrilled at the idea of me leaving." He sighed in disgust.

"Don't worry about them," said Elsa. "You know they'd love to see you fail."

"No kidding," replied Hans. "With the way things are at home I'm actually glad to go away."

"Well, don't get too upset," said Elsa.

"I won't," said Hans.

The two talked for a few minutes, then they hung up. Elsa finished packing her bags.

The day before the trip to leave, Hans and Elsa stopped by the convenience store to grab some candy and soda so they could snack on the way. As well of course, they could stop and get something to eat. A lady named Gerda, who lived down the street, offered to drive Hans and Elsa to the national training camp in Vadsø. Gerda had been there before, she had a cousin who lived there, and also she thought it would be safer for her to take them, rather than Hans and Elsa to take the bus on the long trip by themselves. In any other case, Hans and Elsa's parents were grateful.

The next day, they woke up at seven in the morning. They got dressed, ate breakfast, and made sure they fully packed their bags. Gerda stopped by Hans's house to pick him up first. Hans gave his mother, father, and Lars a hug, nodded goodbye to his other brothers, then left, just like that. But even though Hans couldn't see it, Lars and his mother had tears in their eyes when Hans walked out the door with his belongings and rode off with Gerda. Elsa was in the hallway tying her shoes, with her bags beside her. Elsa had her hair tied back in the bun, and she wore sweatpants. She enjoyed being comfortable on long car rides.

"Elsa, Gerda is here," said Iduna, who had been looking out the window.

"Alright," said Elsa picking up her bags.

They all headed outside, and Elsa greeted Gerda and Hans, then she put her bags in the trunk. After Elsa closed the trunk, she walked back up to her mother and father and looked into their teary eyes. She gave them a big, strong hug, and they wrapped their arms around her.

"We love you, be safe," said Adgar. "Come back soon."

"I'll try," said Elsa. "I love you both so much."

Then, Elsa walked over to Anna sitting on the front step, her face and eyes turning red from crying. Elsa kneeled down in front of her sister and hugged her tight.

"Please don't go!" Anna cried. "Please stay!"

"I have to go," said Elsa. "I love you Anna. Keep up your skills, keep practicing your flyaway on bars, your layout on floor, and back handspring step-out on beam."

"I will," said Anna sniffing. "Oh Elsa!" she started to cry again.

Elsa teared up as well, as her mother and father came over, and they all group hugged. At long last, Elsa had to go. She wiped her face, picked up her bags, and walked to the car. She climbed in the back seat with Hans, and then Gerda waved and they drove off down the road. Elsa looked back at her family standing outside in the front yard, and kept watching until they turned around the corner and disappeared from sight.

The ride to Vadsø was long, but comfortable. Hans and Elsa talked, they slept some, they listened to music, they ate their snacks. At one in the afternoon, Gerda stopped by a fast food restaurant and they picked up something to eat. After they ate, they used the bathroom and then got pack on the road. They reached their destination by four-thirty in the afternoon. Hans and Elsa knew they were there when they saw the large, vast, building they had visited once before. Also, the sign was out in the front of the building. Gerda parked the car in front, and cut the engine. She popped the trunk and Hans and Elsa got out to grab their bags. Once they got their bags out, they pulled open the glass doors and walked inside. In a way, the training center looked like a hotel or a boarding school. The lobby Hans and Elsa stood in wasn't big, except for a few tables and chairs with some magazines, and some fake flowers on the tables. There was a desk to the left, and a middle-aged lady with glasses sat at the desk, typing away at the computer. Gerda, Hans and Elsa walked up to the lady at the desk.

"Hello, how may I help you three today?" asked the lady.

"Yes, we're looking for the head coach here of this training center. We have two new gymnasts here," said Gerda gesturing to Hans and Elsa.

"Oh, how lovely!" the lady said smiling. "I'll call him and let him know you two arrived."

Gerda, Hans and Elsa waited patiently as the lady dialed a number on her phone, and called the head coach. Then she hung up and said, "He'll be here in just a few minutes."

When the head coach arrived, he smiled and greeted Hans, Elsa, and Gerda.

"Welcome," he said. "My name is Coach Aaron, it's a pleasure to have you two added to the national team and to come here to my training facility."

"This whole place belongs to you?" asked Elsa in amazement as she looked around.

"Theoretically, it belongs to Martha, the national team coordinator, since she's the one who got it started all those years ago, but since we hardly ever see her around, and I usually keep up with all the bills and income, you can say this place is mine as well," said Aaron.

"That's cool," said Hans.

"Well, I guess I better get going," said Gerda. She gave Hans and Elsa a hug. "You two take care now, do good, I'll be watching as well as your family."

"We will," said Elsa.

Then Gerda left the building, got in the car, started it and drove off. She would spend the night in a hotel, get some food, a hot shower and rest and be ready to travel home by morning.

"What are your names?" asked Aaron.

"I'm Elsa, and this is Hans," said Elsa gesturing to him.

"Well Elsa, well Hans, how about a tour?" asked Aaron.

"Sounds like a plan," said Hans.

They picked up their bags and followed Aaron down the lobby where they took a right down a hall, and Aaron showed them the library, the cafeteria, and the entertainment area. Then, he took them out back of the training center where they saw a pool.

"Huh? I don't remember a pool here from the last time we visited," said Elsa.

"We just built this pool last year," said Aaron. "Our gymnasts were so grateful for it."

"Oh, cool," said Elsa. She knew she would love to go swimming.

Aaron took them back out to the lobby then, where they turned down the left hallway, and he showed them the classroom with long tables and chairs inside, and a dry erase marker board. Then, he showed them to the stair case that led upstairs to the dormitory.

"You two can take the elevator if those bags are too heavy," said Aaron.

"I think we got it," said Elsa. "We can carry heavy things."

They walked up the two sets of stairs and at the top, there was a sign on the wall in front of them, with a left arrow and a right arrow. On top of the left arrow, it said, "boys", and on top of the right one, it said "girls". So Hans and Elsa knew that to the left was where boys left, and to the right is where girls slept.

"Alright, so here are the rules," said Aaron. "Lights out at ten PM. No food or drink in your rooms unless it's water, or you are sick and can't leave the bed. We've had problems with roaches before."

"Yuck," said Elsa.

"Breakfast is at eight, lunch is at twelve, and dinner is at six. However, the times do vary depending on practice," said Aaron. "If you are a person still on the high school level, you are required to attend daily classes in the classroom. We monitor to see who actually is going. Be respectful to the people and the equipment here. The other gymnasts here are your teammates, and you all work together whether you like it or not. This means, no arguing, definitely no fighting. No name calling, and no tattletaling and blaming other people for your actions. This isn't kindergarten. When you know something's serious, report to me immediately, otherwise, let it go. And as for the equipment, I'm sure you all know that it is strictly for training only. No playing around like you are at the jungle gym. Please careful of what kind of things you place on the dressers in your rooms, what you put on the bed, as things can easily get scratched and torn. No breaking of the things in the leisure room, as some of the things here are very costly. Please be respectful of the things in the leisure room."

"This is a lot of rules," said Hans.

"I'm almost done," said Aaron. "Now, as for the dormitory, it clearly says so on the sign, the left hall is for boys, the right is for the girls. Please, no being sneaky and trying to go to the girl's or boy's bedrooms. You may not think someone is watching you, but we are, and I make a nightly run checking through all rooms at light's out. Please be respectful to me, to Martha, and to yourselves. This is a gymnastics training facility, not a hook up camp."

Elsa snickered.

"Has anyone here ever tried to do that?" asked Hans.

"Oh yes, once," said Aaron. "Caught her and the boy red-handed."

"Ouch," said Hans.

"But so far, we haven't had that happen but only one time. When you are focused on your training, it's kind of hard to get distracted by boys or girls," said Aaron.

"You'd be surprised," said Hans.

"Oh I know it," said Aaron. He pulled two keys out of his pocket and handed them to Hans and Elsa. "These are your keys with the room numbers on them. Please keep track of where you place your keys as they can get easily lost and you can get locked out your room. Always lock your door before you leave the room, even carry it with you to the bathroom and showers. Also, be mindful of how you place your belongings, we don't want you to lose any clothes. Every Sunday we go to the Laundry mat so don't think you won't be able to wash your clothes. And finally, last but not least, if we catch you doing something unruly or inappropriate, first time you are let off with a warning. Second time, you are placed in timeout from at least one day of practice. Third time, can result in being kicked out, and in severe cases, you are not allowed to come back. And that's about it for the rules. Seems pretty straightforward, right?"

"Be respectful, no sneaking around, no being mean to others, be mindful of the equipment and furniture, and lights out at ten PM, got it," said Elsa.

"Good. There's a copy of the rules on your dressers so in case you are about to do something, and you can't remember a rule, you can look at the paper," said Aaron.

Hans and Elsa went to their rooms to go check it out and put their bags down. They inspected the dressers, and sat on the beds. It felt nice and comfortable. In her room, Elsa took out a picture of her family and put it on her dresser. After Hans and Elsa got settled in their rooms, they followed coach Aaron back downstairs where he showed them the gym where the other gymnasts were training inside. The gym was bigger than the one back at home. It had two tumbling floors, one yellow, the other blue. It had an Olympic sized trampoline, the ones with the red square in the middle and you could bounce thirty feet in the air with. Two sets of bars, two vault runways with tables, and a long row of balance beams. Hans and Elsa greeted their new teammates, then they warmed up and got started, showing everyone their skills.

Hans and Elsa were on their way.


	10. New Life

10~ New Life

Hans and Elsa's new life at the training site was exciting, but they still felt homesick. That first night, they were a bit shy and nervous around their new teammates, but they soon relaxed when they all talked and got to know each other at dinner. After they ate, Hans and Elsa went back to their rooms, showered, then went to bed. The next day, they brushed their teeth and got dressed, then went downstairs to the cafeteria for breakfast. The food the cooks made was good, but not the best thing they ever tasted. Hans and Elsa knew they would miss the cooking back at home.

"Did you sleep well last night?" asked Hans as they sat at the table eating French toast, bacon, and eggs.

"Somewhat," said Elsa. "It feels so weird, going to sleep in a new place."

"I know," said Hans. "At least the beds are comfortable enough."

Hans and Elsa knew they would have a long way to go. It was February now. Hans and Elsa could call and text their family members on the regular, but it would be a long time before Thanksgiving and Christmas, the days their parents could come and visit them. After breakfast, Hans and Elsa, along with the other teenagers headed to the classroom, where they spent a few hours working on math problems, English, History, and Science. They headed back to the cafeteria for lunch, where they ate macaroni and cheese. An hour after eating, they headed to the gym for practice. Hans and Elsa showed coach Aaron their new, routines that they had created and practiced. He liked their routines, and gave them pointers on how to perform their skills better. He helped Elsa perfect her Armanar vault, and double back layout on floor. He helped Hans practice his triple twist on floor. Some of the gymnasts at the training center had been there for a couple years already. They went home during holiday breaks and returned after New Years. One girl that Elsa had talked to had been with the training facility since last Olympics almost three years ago! She had competed in the trials, but she had only been chosen as an alternate. Against her mother's wishes, she decided leave home again and come back, hoping to make it to the Olympics.

"I just felt the need to try again," said the girl, whose name was Astrid.

The new life at the training facility was like a continuous cycle that Hans and Elsa had to get accustomed to. Wake up and get dressed, eat breakfast, go to class, eat lunch, go to practice, shower, dinner, then bed. Sundays, go to laundry mat, then afterwards hang out in the leisure room and library all day.

At the end of the first week that Sunday night, Elsa sat on her bed in a sitting position, legs crossed. She stretched her feet. They felt very sore for some odd reason. It had to be the new exercises coach Aaron was making them do. Elsa was on the phone, talking to Anna.

"So, do you like it there? Is everything cool?" Anna asked excitedly from the other end.

"Yeah, everything's doing okay," said Elsa. "Everyone's nice and it's easy to get along."

"That's good," said Anna. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," said Elsa. "How are your skills?"

"It's going good. I stink on beam though. I'm not as good as you," said Anna.

"You're not supposed to be like me, that's why," said Elsa. "You be you."

Anna sighed on the other end. "I know," she said. "How is Hans?"

"He's doing good as well, I think he's more than glad to get away from his family, his crazy brothers I mean," said Elsa.

"Well, maybe I can help ease his stressed mind," said Anna.

"Anna, Hans is too old for you," said Elsa.

"Well, when I get a little older then," said Anna.

Elsa laughed. "Kiss Mom and Dad goodnight for me," she said.

"Okay," said Anna. "Bye Elsa, I love you."

"I love you too,"

Elsa smiled and hung up the phone. It wasn't easy being away from friends and family. No, it certainly was not.

On March 10th, Hans and Elsa competed in the Norway Secret Classic. Elsa got first place all-around again. Hans got third for all-around, but none the less, he was happy. Hans and Elsa trained, they laughed and talked as always, and of course, missed home. March passed, and April came. More meets. Then May came, time for worlds. They flew out to Germany on the seventh. The competition was held the next day. There, finally, Elsa got first place all-around balance beam champion.

"See? I told you that you could do it!" said Hans congratulating her after the meet. Elsa was so happy she could hardly speak. Malissa Turney, the American girl who had beat Elsa for first place on beam at last year's worlds, looked unhappy that she had gotten second. Things were changing for Hans and Elsa. More and more, they were starting to become known, and they appeared in sports sections of magazines or newspapers. Sometimes when Hans and Elsa were out and about, strangers would wave to them excitedly, and gush like fangirls, happy they had met the elite gymnastic champions.

"People must think we're celebrities or something," said Hans to Elsa one day when they were at the athletic section of the store, picking out new leotards.

"I guess people just love to see young people like us do great things," said Elsa thinking about her parent's saying.

"Maybe so," said Hans. "But we haven't done anything much yet."

"Well, now a lot of people are rooting for us to go to the Olympics," said Elsa. "Maybe that's why."

Hans shrugged. He didn't mind the sudden fame that was swirling around him, as long as it didn't get too out of control.

May passed. Worlds was over, and in June Anna turned twelve years old. Elsa sent her a birthday present via mail. When Anna received it two days later, she immediately grabbed the phone and called Elsa.

"Thank you so much!" Anna squealed happily.

"You're welcome," said Elsa.

Elsa had gotten Anna a new pair of sparkling pink shoes and a little matching purse to go with it. Anna sent Elsa a picture of her taking a bite of her birthday cake. Elsa chuckled when she saw it. her little sister was so funny. June passed. All that summer, Hans and Elsa did not compete in any of the summer events, but of course, they did train. The weather was hot, and on the Sunday rest days, they all went swimming along with the other gymnasts. Even coach Aaron got in the pool with them. Even during the times Elsa had a good time training with Hans, and being part of the national team, there were some days she felt so homesick she started crying. She would sit on her bed and let the tears roll down her face. Then she would wipe her face with a tissue, get herself together, and continue on with the day. In order to distract herself on those days she felt homesick, she joined Hans and the others in the leisure room to play pool or watch TV, or sometimes she went to the library to read a book quietly by herself. One of the days she was in the library, coach Aaron came in and sat next to her.

"There you are Elsa. I was looking for you," said Aaron.

"You were?" asked Elsa.

"Yes, I'd like to talk to you for a second," said Aaron.

"Alright," said Elsa putting her book down.

"Now, not to make you feel overwhelmed or doubtful, have you and Hans really been thinking about the Olympics?" asked Aaron.

"Yes sir, we have," said Elsa. "That's why we tried so hard to make the national team."

"I can see," said Aaron. "I want to ask you, suppose you did make it to the Olympics, do you see yourself winning all-around gold medal?"

"Gold medal? All-around?" Elsa chuckled. "Honestly, I can't say I haven't, I'd just be glad to be able to make it in the Olympics!"

Aaron nodded. "That's understandable. But I've been watching you and Hans of course, and I can say, I have a feeling you two are the ones that are going to make history." Said Aaron.

"What do you mean?" asked Elsa.

"As far as I know, Norway has not yet won first place all-around in an Olympic gymnastic event. But with the way you and Hans have been progressing, I have no doubt that if you make it to the Olympics, you could make that change, you and Hans both.

"I don't know," said Elsa looking down. "I don't think I'm that good."

"Sometimes, what we do not feel in our hearts is a sign that it is meant to be all along," said Aaron.

"But then there's this five from each country rule," said Elsa. "That's like saying a person like me has no chance."

"Yes, it can seem that way," said Aaron nodding. "But you'll be surprised how far you'll go. I never expected to compete in the Olympic trials at the age of eighteen, only to later not make it, then fifteen years later here I am the head coach of a training facility owned by the national team coordinator."

Elsa nodded.

"Continue showing me all the hard work and effort," said Aaron. "And we'll see how things will go." Aaron said. Then he patted Elsa on the back, and left.

Summer passed and fall arrived, with the coming of cool weather once more. In the cafeteria, the cooks made hot chocolate with marshmallows for the gymnasts to enjoy during the cool weather times. Sometimes even drinking the hot chocolate made Elsa homesick. It reminded her of the days her and Anna would stay up late by the fireplace, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows, sprinkles, whipped cream, whatever they had. After what seemed like whatever, it was November, and Thanksgiving was here. Some of the gymnasts went home to visit their families, others, who were still very young like Hans and Elsa, stayed behind, and their parents came to see them. Elsa was overjoyed to see her mother, father, and Anna, even if it was for only a little while. Hans was happy to see his brother Lars, and his mother and father. When Hans asked where were his other brothers, his father replied saying that they were "busy" with college and work. Hans rolled his eyes. He knew the truth. They all enjoyed the Thanksgiving meal with coach Aaron and his friends and family, including some of the other gymnasts who stayed behind with their visiting parents. The day after Thanksgiving, Elsa and Hans said a tearful goodbye to their parents and siblings, promising to keep in touch as always and that they would send gifts on Christmas. All the older gymnasts came back, and practice and routine went on as normal.

On Elsa's sixteenth birthday, she woke up to coach Aaron, Hans, and the other gymnasts singing the happy birthday song. Then they showered her with balloons and streamers. What a way to start the morning! After brushing her teeth and getting dressed, Elsa went downstairs for breakfast where she was given a giant card that had all her teammates signatures on it, and coach Aaron's signature written at the bottom in big handwriting. Since Elsa was the birthday girl today, she was excused from practice. Elsa spent the entire morning watching TV and playing video games in the leisure room, and reading books in the library. At lunchtime, Elsa was presented with a cake, and it looked so pretty and scrumptious, they all decided to start with dessert and go backwards. So they had cake and ice cream first, then lunch. Later that night, Elsa received a package in the mail. Sitting on her bed, Elsa untied the gray box to reveal a note on top of some wrapping paper. It read: _Happy sweet sixteen, Love you, from Mom, Dad, and Anna._ Elsa took off the wrapping paper to reveal the most beautiful leotard she had ever seen. It was an icy blue, identically matching the color of Elsa's eyes. The sleeves themselves were a powdery, icy blue, and all over the delicate fabric there were tiny crystal sequins, causing the leotard to shimmer and shine each way Elsa turned it. The leotard was cut low in the back, which would show off a bit of Elsa's back when she put it on.

"Oh, that's beautiful!" Astrid said when Elsa showed her teammates and Hans the pretty leotard.

"You should try it on," said another girl.

So, Elsa went into her room and changed into the leotard. When she walked out, she heard a few "oohs" and "ahhs" from the girls. Hans looked at Elsa in amazement. She looked absolutely stunning in the icy blue leotard. It was as if the leotard had been made for her, and only her.

"I'm glad you all like it," said Elsa turning around so they could see the back as well. "I'll wear it to the Arendelle Cup."

Elsa looked magnificent at the competition. With her icy blue leotard on, and her hair tied back in a bun, she was elegant and graceful as a gazelle as she flipped and twisted. Elsa got second place all-around, and so did Hans for the men. By now, Hans and Elsa had developed some nicknames that they could be known by. Elsa was called Queen Of The Beam, due to her graceful, elegant, and ever so impressive beam routines, which were getting better and better. Elsa hardly ever wobbled anymore. Hans's nickname was Powerhouse, due to his fast running and powerful, near perfect vaults, his easy-looking, flowing parallel bar routines, and the amazing heights he got off the ground into the air when he tumbled. For Christmas, coach Aaron took the teams to see the play, A Christmas Carol. Afterwards, they laughed, drank hot chocolate, opened gifts and ate good food. Christmas passed and New Years came. There was a year and a half left until the Olympic trials. Elsa and Hans knew that wasn't much time, although looking on the calendar, it seemed long. Days moved fast. Already, they were approaching the one year mark of being in the training center. Hans and Elsa had to kick it into high gear, if they wanted to do this.


	11. InjuryLosing Hope

11~ Injury/Losing Hope

And so, another year passed. After New Years, Elsa and Hans trained as usual, and they didn't give one hundred percent, they gave two thousand percent. Every day they called their parents to check on them and to hear their voices. In competitions, Elsa did not get any lower than second place on balance beam. Hans was more and more getting first place on vault, floor, and parallel bar. One day in spring, Martha, the national team coordinator visited the gym to see how everything and everyone was doing.

"So this must be the Queen Of The Beam and the Powerhouse everyone's been talking about!" Martha exclaimed greeting Hans and Elsa.

"Pleased to meet you ma'am," said Elsa and Hans politely.

Martha stayed around for a couple days, helping and watching everyone train, then she left to go back home to her husband. Months passed. Before Hans and Elsa knew it, summer had passed and fall was here once more.

"only nine more months left until the Olympic trials," said Elsa to Hans as looked at the calendar on her phone.

"Time is flying," said Hans. He looked at Elsa. Time sometimes does marvelous things, and to him, which each passing day Elsa got more and more beautiful. Hans mentally slapped himself. Why couldn't he just suck it up and tell her how he felt? It wasn't like he was confessing to murder or anything. But every time he opened his mouth to try and tell her, the words didn't seem to come out right.

"Yes, time sure does fly," said Elsa looking at the picture of her mother, father, and little sister Anna, who was a Level 8, hopefully soon to be Level 9.

September, October, then Thanksgiving again, where this time Hans and Elsa went home to their families for a couple of days.

"Only eight more months until the trials, how are you and Hans feeling?" asked Adgar while they were all sitting at the dinner table eating Thanksgiving dinner with family.

"We feel fine, for now, we have to get there first," said Elsa.

"That's true," said Iduna. "Just don't push yourselves too hard."

"We won't," said Elsa. "We won't"

"Let's all drink a toast," said Elsa and Anna's Aunt, Camille. She raised her glass. "To Elsa and Hans making it to the Olympic trials, and more."

"To Elsa and Hans!" replied everyone at the table, and they all clinked glasses and drank.

Meanwhile at Hans's house, you can pretty much guess what things were like over there.

"So, little twerp, are you ready for the trials? That is, if you ever get the chance!" Victor laughed.

"Just shut up, will you? I'll make it to the trials, you'll see!" Hans said.

"Victor, leave your brother alone, and that goes for the rest of you!" said Hans's mother.

Grateful that his mother was now taking more actions against his mean brother's, Hans smiled at his mother.

"I don't know if I can do it Mom," said Hans.

"Hans, you have trained so hard and so long," said Hans's mother. "You are going to make it to the trials. You and Elsa both."

"I hope so," said Hans as he ate his food.

December, and Hans and Elsa returned to the gym. Three weeks later, and Elsa's seventeenth birthday. Hans was nineteen now. When New Years came once more in January, Elsa and Hans began to mark down days on the calendar until the Olympic trials. Coach Aaron began to keep track of the days as well. One day in late April, just a couple weeks before worlds, Hans and Elsa were training in the gym as usual. They had been there for two years now. Hans was on vault, and Elsa was on floor with Aaron practicing a new tumbling move. Now that Elsa had gotten better on her double layout and full twisting double back tuck, coach Aaron decided it was time for her to take it up a notch. Elsa was practicing a full twisting double layout. A full twisting double layout was a double back layout that has a full twist in the first layout. A very complicated skill, rated a H skill in gymnastics. Skills harder than G skills, very few gymnasts ever perform in gymnastics, because well, they are very difficult to perform. So far, there was only one skill in gymnastics that was any harder than an H. It was called the Moors, by Victoria Moors from Canada. The Moors was a double double layout, or double twisting double layout, rated an I skill. Astrid was practicing The Biles on floor, named after Simone Biles, an American gymnast who performed a difficult tumbling move of a double layout with a half turn in the second layout, rated a G skill.

Elsa was practicing her full twisting double layout on floor, and Hans was watching her. She almost had it. she just needed more concentration on her landings.

"Come on Elsa, one more then you can go on break," said Aaron, who was in position next to a mat on floor spotting Elsa.

"I'm so tired," said Elsa leaning on her knees. She had been tumbling non-stop for the past twenty minutes.

"Come on," said Aaron encouraging her. "One more."

"Come on Elsa you got this!" Her teammates cried out from the side.

Elsa stood up and straightened her back. She took a deep breath, and went for it again. All went well, but when Elsa landed, everything went wrong. She landed a certain way, and Elsa felt her right ankle buckle out from underneath her, and then a sharp pain filled her heel and calf muscle.

"Ahhh!" Elsa screamed loudly and fell to the ground, holding her right leg.

"Elsa!" Hans cried in shock and went running to her. Aaron kneeled down beside her as well.

"It hurts! My leg! It hurts so much!" Elsa cried.

"What is it?" Hans asked Aaron nervously.

"It's her Achilles," said Aaron, with a concerned look on his face.

"What happened?" asked Astrid and the other gymnasts running to the scene.

With Aaron and Hans's help, Elsa tried to stand, but she couldn't. she simply moaned in pain and fell back into their arms.

"We need to get her to the hospital," said Coach Aaron. "I need your help Hans."

With Hans's help, Aaron picked up Elsa, and together they carried her to Aaron's car, Astrid opened the backseat door for them, and they carefully put Elsa inside. At the hospital, Elsa underwent a few X-rays, and afterwards, she was given a very painful shot that ironically, was supposed to numb the pain. Hans held Elsa's hand the whole time the injection was given.

"So, is it serious doctor?" Elsa asked.

"Well, with injuries such as this, they can be hard to heal on their own, and depending on the injury, it may require surgery," said the doctor.

"Surgery?!" Elsa asked in shock. "Is that what I need?"

The doctor nodded sadly.

"But, there has to be some other way," said Hans. "The Olympic trials is only two months away! She would never heal in time!"

"Like I said before, it all depends on the injury, and there are other ways of treating the injury," said the doctor.

"Such as?" asked Elsa eagerly, wanting another option.

"Complete immobilization," said the doctor. "We can wrap up your heel nice and tight and put a walking boot on it. You will need to stay off of it for a couple weeks."

Elsa sighed in frustration. She couldn't believe this was happening! Why did it have to happen now? Especially right before worlds! Elsa began to tear up. Hans put an arm around her shoulder for support, but it didn't seem to help much.

So, Elsa chose the non-surgical route and got her heel wrapped up. She was given crutches to walk on as well.

"Looks like I'm not competing in worlds," said Elsa bitterly when they got back to the training site.

"Nope," said Hans, who was just as sad as she was.

Elsa went to her room and closed the door, wanting to be alone. Her mother and father had called, sorry and upset to hear about what happened and wished they could have time to be here. Elsa began to cry, now how would she make it to the trials? She couldn't compete in worlds with an injured Achilles heel. Elsa decided she was through. She was going to pack up and go home. Elsa pulled out her clothes and began to put them in her bags. Afterwards, she pulled out her phone and texted her mother. _I don't want to do gymnastics anymore, I'm ready to come home, please come and get me._ Just like that, she sent the message. Afterwards, Elsa lied down, and took a nap.

The following afternoon, just before lunch, Elsa was in the classroom, listening to her lessons with all the other younger gymnasts, when a knock on the door interrupted the teacher. The teacher went to open it, then she said, "Elsa, you have a visitor,"

Elsa turned around to see her mother Iduna standing there. A few seconds later, Elsa found herself standing in the hallway facing her mother.

"I'm sure you know why I'm here," said Iduna folding her arms.

Elsa said nothing. Iduna sighed and reached down and lightly caressed her daughter's injured leg. "In any case, I'm glad nothing else bad happened to you." She sighed. "So tell me, why do you want to quit?"

"You see why," said Elsa gesturing towards her wrapped up leg and foot. "I can't expect to compete in worlds on an injured Achilles heel. So, I'm through, I'm done."

"Well, I don't think you should quit," said Iduna.

"Why?" asked Elsa, frustrated. Didn't her mother see? Didn't she understand, that she couldn't do it?

"Because I have a feeling," said Iduna.

"A feeling of what? That I'm going to fail?" Elsa said sarcastically.

Ignoring her daughter's sarcasm, Iduna replied. "It's a mother's feeling that her child is about to do something great. They say, that usually before the calm of a storm, things sometimes get worse before they get better."

"Well, I don't know about me," said Elsa.

"Please honey, just stick it out. You never know, you could still make it," said Iduna. "And even though, you could still be there to support the team."

Elsa didn't want to hear it. She was getting ready to open her mouth to speak, when Hans came by and said, "Mrs. Anderson! What a nice surprise! What brings you here?"

"You tell him Elsa," said Iduna.

Elsa lowered her head. "Hans, I'm sorry, I can't do this, I'm going home," she said.

"What? Elsa, no!" Hans cried.

"Elsa, yes!" Elsa replied. "There's no way I can do it Hans! There is no other way."

"Well, let's talk to coach Aaron about this," said Iduna. "Maybe there is another way."

So, despite the fact she was just ready to leave and go home, Elsa went with her mother and Hans to Aaron's office, where they talked about Elsa's plans and feelings.

"Is there another way my daughter could still make it to the trials?" asked Iduna.

"Well, if I remember correctly, they do have special events for gymnasts who didn't get to qualify at worlds, but still make up for it," said Aaron.

"And that is?" asked Elsa.

"It's called a Wildcard event," said coach Aaron. "It's for athletes who get awarded a berth when they have not qualified through normal play."

"So you're saying, Elsa could still make it to the trials via this Wildcard thing?" asked Iduna.

"If she does well at it, then yes," said Aaron.

"Elsa, what do you think? When your heel heals up a couple weeks from now, do you want to take a shot at it?" asked Iduna.

"I don't know," said Elsa. "Right now, I don't feel like doing much of anything."

"It's up to you Elsa," said Aaron. "We'd miss you if you quit though."

"I'll tell you what, I'll go back home, and you have a week to make a decision," said Iduna. "If you still feel strongly about leaving, then I'll come back to get you."

"Okay," said Elsa. That's all she could say.

Iduna, Elsa, and Hans who decided to tag along went out to eat for lunch. After they returned, Elsa kissed her mother goodbye, and then Iduna left to get back on the road home.

After her mother's visit, and the new information coach Aaron left inside her head, Elsa went to sleep that night, her mind swimming. Her thoughts turned into a dream. Elsa dreamt she was crawling through a dark, tight hole, with little room. Spider webs brushed her face as she crawled through the hole. Suddenly, Elsa felt too tired to go on, and she collapsed on the inside of the dark hole she was crawling through. Suddenly, she heard a voice. _Don't you know you are better than that? Don't you know how strong and full of fire you are?_ Elsa shook her head, she was so tired. _Times do get tough, but don't let it take over you._ A hand reached down and pulled Elsa back up to her knee's. _Get up, stand up, and don't ever give up._ Said the voice. Elsa saw light at the end of the tunnel. Filled with energy, Elsa crawled faster until she finally escaped out on the other side, where she was greeted by cheering people. Those cheering people were her friends and family. Elsa woke up suddenly, surprised at the dream. She threw back the covers and got out of bed. She limped over to the dresser and looked at herself in the mirror. She had come so far. So much had happened. And now here she was. Sure, she had a little injury, but with another chance given, what could stop her? Elsa smiled. Who was she? She was Elsa Anderson, Arendelle Cup first place all-around winner, two time second place balance beam world champion, the third time being first place. First place floor world champion third time, and her nickname was Queen of The Beam. And as a queen, shouldn't her head be held high? Elsa texted her mother back saying that she changed her mind, and planned to keep going, then she went back to sleep.

Hans and Aaron were thrilled of Elsa's change of heart. Nothing more was said except that they were happy to see her wanting to continue. Elsa was filled with fire. She stretched, she did pushups, situps, pullups, everything she could possible do to keep in shape while her heel healed. A few weeks later, Elsa went back to the doctor where he told her that her injury was healing nicely, and she could take the walking boot off, but she needed to keep her leg wrapped up in an ace bandage and tape tightly, and still use the crutches necessarily. The following day after her doctor's visit, worlds began. Hans scored first for parallel bars, first for vault, second on floor this time, third for rings, third for pommel horse, and fourth for high bar. This was Hans's third time getting first place for vault, and his second time getting first for parallel bar. June arrived. There was a month and a couple of days left until the trials. Elsa looked at her Calendar. On June 7th, she would be competing in the wildcard event. Then two weeks after that, Anna would be fourteen. Hopefully that winter, she would be a Level 10. And on July 8th, would be the Olympic trials. On June 6th, just one day before her special meet, Hans discovered that had been chosen to compete in the trials. Hans was so excited he couldn't say a word. He froze up like a statue. Twenty minutes later he called his mother and father to tell them the news, so that his parents could lay it to his mean brothers. Hans had made it. Now it was Elsa's turn.

The wildcard meet went well. Elsa performed the best she could, despite her injured Achilles, was wrapped up tight. Although it was unable to see on live TV, Elsa was putting more pressure on her left leg than her right, so theoretically, she did all of her routines and landings on one foot. Elsa's all-around was a 60.13, so she qualified. Elsa was given her wildcard card, and then she was set.

"Have you all ordered your tickets yet? They sell out fast!" Elsa said on the phone to her father.

"Calm down sweetie, we know you're excited, and yes, we are ordering tickets," said Adgar.

"That's good," said Elsa. "Only twenty-nine more days until the trials!"

"We've been keeping track," said Adgar. "Your mother and I are so proud of you. See what happens when you don't quit?"

"Yes, I see," said Elsa smiling, remembering the dream she had on the night where she felt there was no hope.

"I'm ready to get out there and make a difference."


	12. The Trials

12~ The Trials

Night one of the Olympic trials for women took place on July 8th, at six-thirty in the evening in the capital of Norway, which was Oslo. Elsa told herself over and over to keep calm, and focus on her routines. If she rushed and got too ahead of herself, she was sure to make a mistake. Elsa smiled as she entered the arena with the other female gymnasts. The stands were packed full of people, and the lights were shining bright.

"There! I see her!" cried Anna standing up in her seat. "Elsa! Elsa!" she called excitedly. But Elsa could not hear her or see her. There were a lot of people there tonight.

"We'll see her afterwards honey," said Iduna coaxing her younger daughter back into her seat.

"Oh well," thought Anna to herself. At least she was sitting next to Hans. "So, how have you been doing Hans?" asked Anna, not trying to make it obvious she was flirting.

"I've been doing well," said Hans smiling. "How about you?"

"Oh, I'm doing well too," said Anna crossing her legs and smiling. "I'll be a Level 10 this winter."

"That's cool," said Hans. "It's been a long time since I was a Level 10."

"I know," said Anna smiling bigger.

On TV, the narrator was explaining details about the event.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. At long last, another four years has gone past us and it is time once again for the Olympic trials. Competition has been fierce these past four years, as many young men and women strive to reach the ultimate goal: the dream of being an Olympian," said the male narrator.

"That's right," said the female narrator. "It's a full house here tonight, and I think we all know why. Many people are here to see the best gymnasts compete against each other, and they all have in their minds of who's going to be chosen for the team that will represent Norway. Daniel, do you have any female gymnasts here in mind that you think will be chosen?"

"Well, in my mind for one, I have already chosen everyone's favorite Queen of The Beam, Elsa Anderson," said Daniel. "With her strong ability on the event, I think she'd do a great favor to the team."

"I agree," said the female narrator.

While the narrators were on TV live explaining their dream idea of the women's team, Elsa and the other gymnasts on her team were on the floor warming up their skills. It was the first event they were starting on. Elsa wasn't bad on floor, but she wasn't the worst either. If all didn't go too well on floor and bars, she hoped vault and beam would make up for it. Finally, it began. Elsa was the first one on the floor. She smiled and saluted, then walked on the floor and stood in a pose.

"Come on Elsa!" Hans, Iduna, Adgar, and Anna shouted from deep in the crowded stands. Back in Arendelle, Gerda, Elsa's aunts, uncles, and cousins were sitting on the couch watching Elsa on TV. Elsa heard her music begin, and she started her routine. Elsa had four tumbling passes in her routine. Her first tumbling pass was a double back pike. She landed it pretty well, and everyone cheered. Her second tumbling pass was the full twisting double back tuck. She jumped back a little on the landing, but people in the stands still cheered of course. Her third tumbling pass was the double back layout, which she now did so gracefully and flawlessly. She stuck the landing on it, which she was glad about.

"Wow!" Anna cried in amazement as she watched her older sister tumble.

After a few more jumps, poses, dance connections and turns, it was time for her final tumbling pass. The roundoff to a one and a half twist to a roundoff back handspring to two full twists. Elsa jumped back a little on that landing. But she felt confident about the routine. She saluted the judges and smiled as she walked off the floor. She gave a hug and a high five to her teammates and coach, then went to her bag and took a sip of water from a bottle. When her score appeared on the screen, she was pleased. She got a 15.32 out of 16.00.

"So far Elsa Anderson is off to a good start," said Daniel.

Eight more gymnasts later, it time for the teams to move to the second event. At the end of the first rotation for floor, Elsa was in third place. The second event Elsa's team went to was balance beam. Her strongest event. Elsa took in deep breaths, telling herself that she wouldn't rush, that she would take it easy. When it was her turn to perform, Hans crossed his fingers and said, "Come on Elsa, you can do this."

Iduna, Adgar, Anna, Hans, and everyone else back at home watching the event on TV were on the edge of their seats.

In a relaxed state of mind, Elsa tuned out everything and everybody as she did her beam routine. She did her leap, jumps, and turns, and her acrobatic skills with hardly a wobble. As she prepared for her dismount, she thought about everyone watching her. Elsa did her two back handsprings to an arabian full, and stuck the landing. This time, she smiled, showing teeth as she saluted and walked away from the beam. The people in the stands were cheering strongly once more.

"What do you think, does that beam routine look worthy of an Olympic medal?" the female narrator asked Daniel.

"Sure looks like it to me, we'll see what the score says," said Daniel.

Elsa jumped up and down and clapped her hands when she got a 15.96 out of 16.00! Almost a perfect score! Elsa wondered what the deductions could be, but at the same time, she didn't care. She was in the lead for second rotation for balance beam. In the stands, her family and Hans were cheering. On bars, Elsa got a 15.00 out of 16.00. she had expected her score to not be very good, considering the fact bars was not an event she was strong on. None the less, Elsa was glad she didn't see the little red down arrow next to her score. She had gotten the yellow square, which was close. In elite gymnastics, if you see a green up arrow next to your score, you did great. If you see a yellow square, you did in between, not great, but not bad. If you see a red down arrow, you didn't do so hot. Elsa had only gotten one red arrow score so far in her career. It was the first elite meet she had ever done, which was the Arendelle Cup at the age of thirteen, when she fell off the beam three times. On the last event, which was vault, Elsa gave it her best. She got a 15.72 out of 16.00.

At last, night one of the Olympic trials for women was over. Night one for the men would be tomorrow. Elsa couldn't wait to watch Hans and Hans couldn't wait to show off his skills to his brothers. The men's began at the six-thirty in the evening the next day, same time as the women's last night.

"Good luck," said Elsa hugging Hans tightly.

"Thank you," said Hans smiling. Hans had planned to tell Elsa his feelings for her once the trials were over. He was going to do it. This was a very special time in their lives, so, he might as well go for it. Hans went out into the competing area with his teammates, and Elsa joined her sister and parents, and sat next to Hans's parents and his twelve older brothers. Hans did well on night one. He got a 15.67 on parallel bars, a 15.45 on floor, and 15.4 on vault, a 14.31 on high bar, a 15.12 on rings, and a 15.00 on pommel horse.

"What a terrific performance from Hans Westagard for floor, parallel bars, and vault for night one of the men's Olympic trials," said Daniel. "I think I have an idea who might bring home some gold if he gets chosen for the men's team."

After night one for the men's was over, Hans and Elsa went out for some ice cream. They sat out in the warm summer night, enjoying the sweet treat.

"Well, tomorrow's the final night for the women," said Elsa chuckling nervously. "Then we'll see who will be chosen for the women's team that will represent Norway."

"Yeah," said Hans quietly nodding. Suddenly, he looked at their surroundings. It was quiet, dark, nobody was around except for the people in the ice cream shop working, and they were outside sitting at the table. He could tell her now. It was a perfect opportunity. Taking another bite of his ice cream, Hans prepared himself.

"Elsa," he began. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time now, but I've been afraid to say, because I've worried things might change if I do." Hans looked up at the sky, then back at Elsa who was waiting his reply.

"Elsa, I'm in love with you, I want us to be more than friends," he said.

Elsa was silent for a few seconds, then she smiled. "Hans, why would things be different between us, when I feel the same way?"

Hans and Elsa didn't speak. They leaned forward across the table to each other, where they softly kissed on the lips. After a few seconds, they pulled back. Elsa and Hans blushed. It had been the first time they had kissed anyone.

"We best get back to the hotel," said Elsa. "The others are waiting for us."

"Yes, let's," said Hans.

They finished their ice cream, and they walked hand and hand back to the hotel.

The next night, Elsa wore her icy blue sparkling leotard that she had gotten last year for her sixteenth birthday. She put on eye shadow and lipstick. This was the final night for women's, and Elsa wanted to look her best, whatever happened.

"Welcome back for night two of the Olympic trials for the women," said Daniel. "Everyone's on their edge of their seat as we count down the final hours to see, which five female gymnasts will be chosen to represent Norway. I'm sure to a lot of people, whoever is chosen, may be a surprise to all."

Night two went well for Elsa. She surprisingly did better on floor and bars, and although her beam routine performance wasn't as good as night one, she still finished pretty solid. Lastly, there was vault. This time, instead of doing a roundoff back handspring into the skill, she would do a half-on into her Armanar. Elsa went for it, and she stuck the landing. Elsa saluted, smiled and sighed in relief. She was finished. Now, it was time for waiting. She looked down at her right leg which was still wrapped up in an ace bandage. It still hurt, but not as much as before. When all the gymnasts were finally done, they all headed in the locker room to sit. Martha, the national team coordinator, and the rest of the judges all went into a private back room. There, they would spend the next thirty minutes or so deciding who they would choose to represent Norway for women's gymnastics.

It was the longest thirty minutes of Elsa's life. She sat tapping her foot and biting her nails. Some of her teammates paced the floor, others just sat.

"I'm gonna get in, I have a feeling!" Astrid said sitting next to Elsa.

Out in the stands, Iduna, Adgar, Anna, and Hans were on the edge of their seats, as they counted down the minutes as well. Back in Arendelle, Gerda, the Uncles, aunts, and cousins sat on the edge of their seats as well, as they waited anxiously. After what seemed like hours, the thirty minutes were up. Martha walked into the locker room.

"Good evening ladies," said Martha. "It's been a long night, and a rather long four years. But here you are. You made it, but only five of you will go farther beyond that." Martha held up a sheet of paper. "On this list, I have the five names of the girls I have chosen who will represent Team Norway to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. When I call your name, come up and grab your new team warm up suit and put it on. A bouquet of flowers will be given to you as well."

Elsa gulped as Martha looked down at the paper to read.

"Lily Hansen," she said, calling the first girls name.

Lily screamed of joy and ran to grab her new warm up suit to put on.

"Camille Johnson," Martha called second. Just like Lily, Camille jumped up like a rocket and ran to grab her team warm up suit.

"Elsa Anderson," Martha called third.

Time seemed to ground to a halt as Elsa heard her name. Her eyes grew wide, and she was frozen as a statue. She had been chosen.

"Sarah Olsen, Astrid Thomsen," Martha called finishing the list.

Elsa and Astrid cried, tears streaming down their faces as they hugged each other. They were so overcome with emotion, they could barely stand.

Outside in the stands where the people were sitting waiting, the lights grew dark, and Daniel the narrator stood in the middle of the arena with a small light shining on him and a microphone in his hand. Everyone in the stands became quiet, and the people that were watching it on TV had their eyes glued to the screen.

"Tonight has been a long night, but now finally we've come to the end. I'm sure you're all anxious to know who the women's team is, so without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Women's Team Norway for the Tokyo Olympics!" He extended his arm out towards the girls, as they all came out one by one in order, warm up suits on that had Norway's flag colors on it, and the bouquet of flower in hand.

"Lily Hansen, Camille Johnson, Elsa Anderson, Sarah Olsen, Astrid Thomsen!" Daniel said.

Elsa could not stop crying as she stood around her four other teammates. Balloons and streamers fell down around them as the people in the stands cheered. Iduna, Adgar, Anna, and Hans were crying tears of joy. Everyone back in Arendelle cried tears of joy as well. More balloons and streamers fell as more tears fell from Elsa's eyes. In her mind, Elsa was thinking of all the possibilities. In her mind was the image of the Olympian she wanted to become.

But it still wasn't over yet. There was still night two for the mens.

Hans did better in night two than he did in night one. But none the less, he still felt nervous when he and his other teammates waited in the locker room for Martha to come out with the results. When Hans heard his name called, he didn't believe it. He needed someone to pinch him to tell him it was a dream, but it wasn't. He was going to the Olympics, and so was Elsa. When Hans and the four other men walked out with streamers and balloons falling around them, his brothers, with the exception of Lars, could say nothing. They had nothing to say. They just sat in silence as Lars, Hans's mother and father clapped and cheered excitedly, and Hans's mother cried tears of joy.

That night, when no one was looking, Hans and Elsa shared a kiss.

"We did it," said Hans as they pulled away.

"We sure did," said Elsa. "Now we have to go there and blow it out of the water."

The men and women's team would fly out to Tokyo on the 25th of July, check in the hotel and rest up the 26th, and then they would spend the next ten days training at the Olympic training site, to be ready on August 7 to start their events.

 **Author's note: Yay, Hans and Elsa are competing in the Olympics! I know this isn't the most interesting story ever, but I hope the Helsa kiss makes up for the boring parts. Won't be much longer until this story's over anyway. P.S. Samurai Jack Season 5 episode 4 was amazing! Go check it out! 3**


	13. Final Training

13~ Final Training

On the day before the teams left to go to Tokyo, there was a big pre-Olympic celebration in which they had a pool party complete with food and music. Elsa wore a one piece bright yellow bathing suit. Elsa looked at herself in the mirror as she put it on. She was a little self-conscious about her arms, believe it or not. They seemed so big and bulky, especially around her shoulders. But she knew it came from years of hard work, and hard work had got her right where she wanted to be.

The teams flew out of Norway to Tokyo, Japan on July 25, at eight-thirty in the morning. Elsa and Hans woke up at six in the morning to get ready, then everyone loaded their packed bags in their cars, and hurried off to the airport to meet everyone there. After an hour of checking bags and confirming flight information, they at last loaded the plane and took off. They all rode first class, and Hans and Elsa were loving it. Elsa sat in the middle of Anna and her mother, her father sat in front of her, along with the rest of the women's team who sat up in the further rows. On the right side, Hans and his family sat with the men's team. Gerda, along with some of uncle's and aunt's in Elsa's family had wanted to come, but there was only so much room on the plane, and Gerda had to work and couldn't take off. The flight to Tokyo was long, but comfortable. Unlike coach class, you could stretch your feet as far out as you wanted, servers served you food and drink. The only that wasn't comfortable was having to use the bathroom in the tight compartment.

They arrived in Japan in the early evening, then they took a bus to the hotel in which they would be staying at that was in Tokyo. Elsa and Hans were excited as they saw the bustling city that was Tokyo. Many people were walking and driving about. Bright neon signs covered nearly every building. Hans and Elsa could see that majority of the people wore regular shirts, jeans and suits like they did. Every now and then they saw people walking around in brightly colored Kimono. Food carts stood on the side of the road in which crowds of people stood in line to get. Elsa and Hans knew it had to be delicious. They had already planned to go out and visit some of those food carts. At the hotel, they all stood in awe of the lobby as they checked in. the freshly polished floors showed their reflection, the sound of the Shamisen playing oriental music on the music player filled their ears. Tall bamboo plants stood on both sides of them, and in front of them a beautiful fountain with Koi fish swimming in a pool filled with colorful rocks. The lady at the desk wished them good luck in the Olympics after they all checked in, and then the teams went into the elevator. Elsa and Hans, along with everyone else were glad to see how comfortable their room were. The crisp white sheets, and the soft memory foam mattress made them feel right at home as they sat down on the bed and kicked off their shoes. Elsa and Anna had one big room for themselves, Elsa took the bed on the right, and Anna took the bed on the left, because Anna begged to sleep close to the window. After forty-five minutes of getting settled, the teams headed back out to eat at a restaurant. When Hans and Elsa walked inside, it looked similar to the Asian buffets they had back at home, but little did they know, the food would be even better than it was back home. As the server walked them to tables to sit at, Hans secretly reached over and grabbed Elsa's hand.

"Hans, what are you doing?" Elsa whispered into his ear.

"What does it look like I'm doing, I'm holding your hand," said Hans with a smile.

"I thought we said we were going to wait until the Olympics were over?" Elsa whispered back.

"But that could be forever, besides, you feel so nice and soft and smell so good," said Hans.

Elsa blushed.

"Your Majesty," said Hans.

"Why are you calling me that?" Elsa asked.

"Because you're the Queen of The Beam, remember?" said Hans.

Elsa blushed again. "Thank you, Powerhouse," she said smiling back at him.

Hans smiled then released her hand.

It was the best food they ate. Everyone tried the seaweed salad as an appetizer, then everyone ordered what they wanted for dinner. Elsa ordered the chicken Teriyaki with noodles and steamed vegetables. Hans ordered some Tempura with fried rice. After dinner, they all had dessert. There was plenty of cake and ice cream to enjoy, but Hans, Elsa and her family all tried Sata Andagi Okinawan donuts, and they were very tasty as well. Tired and stuffed, they all headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed. Even after Anna had gone to sleep, and her parents next door in the adjoining bedroom were asleep, Elsa was up late texting Hans, sending cute messages to each other back and forth. At around one in the morning, they finally went to sleep. At nine in the morning, the next day of July 26, the teams went downstairs to the dining hall to eat. They had bacon and scrambled eggs as usual, but Elsa and Hans never had Miso soup, sesame seed balls with red bean paste filling inside them, and rice cakes for breakfast. It was amazing to try something new in the morning. After eating, everyone went to go explore the town. They visited art shops, where Elsa and Hans saw wonderful paintings of bamboo forests, rivers, people on bridges. There was a picture of a samurai that Hans liked, and a picture of a Geisha that Elsa liked as well. From a different shop, Elsa brought a jade bracelet to wear. The woman at the counter said it would bring "good luck". Elsa hoped whatever happened, she would do good at the games. After a couple of hours of exploring, they all headed back to the hotel for lunch, with the exception of Hans and Elsa, they opted to get some typical ramen from one of the street carts.

After a long day of exploring, Hans and Elsa were tired. They did not stay up late that night, instead went to bed at nine PM. They wanted as much rest as possible to be ready for training. When Hans and Elsa entered the Olympic training gym at ten in the morning, it reminded them of their old gym back home, Flipstar. Except the colors and equipment were a lot darker, and the tumbling floor seemed squeaky as they tumbled across it. Elsa, Hans, and all the other gymnasts practiced their skills as usual, receiving pointers as they did, and at the end of practice, they did Plyometrics.

"Come on! Higher! Higher! Knee's up!" their coach shouted as Hans, Elsa, and all the other gymnasts jumped and hopped over the blocks set before them in a long line, then at the end they did a front tuck onto a mat. After a five and half hour long practice that had included plyometrics, the wiped out men and women's team dragged their tired bodies home to shower. Afterwards they all talked and mingled over some ice cream.

"I still can't believe we're actually here," said Astrid as she licked her chocolate cone. "Four years for you and Hans, but six for me."

"I know," said Elsa, happy for her friend. "I'm so glad we got the chance."

"We have nine more days left of training, so I hope it's all worth it," said Hans. "I want to get that gold medal."

"Gold, silver, or bronze, let's just be happy we made it," said Astrid. "Not too many people have the chance to do something as great in their lives as this."

Elsa nodded slowly. Never in a million years did she think she would become an Olympic gymnast, not at all. She'd figure she'd do gymnastics until she was at least eighteen, then quit and get a job as a waitress on roller blades like she had seen on TV, and make money to support her family. She gave a silent thanks to God. After eating ice cream, then watching TV and playing games after eating dinner in the dining hall, they went to bed. The next nine days were like a routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, get to gym by ten in the morning. Train for five hours, plyometrics, go back to hotel, shower, dinner, relax, bed. The hot summer weather, made it even more tiresome for Elsa, Hans, and the rest of the team. It seemed even on the highest setting of AC and fans, they felt like cookies baking in the oven.

On the last day of training, which was the sixth of August, Hans and Elsa were tired and nervous. Everyone in the gym trained harder than they ever trained before, pushing themselves to the limit. At the end of the last day, the men and women teams put on their bathing suits and headed down to the beach to take a picture of them posing in front of the water. Elsa put on her yellow one piece bathing suit, Astrid had on a lime green bikini, and her brown hair streamed down her back, and so Elsa decided to let her hair down a bit as well. The women's team; Lily, Camille, Elsa, Sarah, and Astrid all huddled together with their arms around each other smiling in their bathing suits as coach Aaron snapped the picture. Then he took a picture of them making a funny face and pose. Next, he took a normal picture of the boy's team; Erik, Hans, Arvid, Alexander, and Christian, then he too took a picture of them making a funny face and pose. Lastly, they all took two giant pictures together, one normal, and one funny. Afterwards, they got dressed to get ready to go to the Olympic opening ceremony.

Hans and Elsa had tears in their eyes as they walked out along with the other fellow Olympic competitors of their country. The flag bearer marched proudly forward as all the people of Norway that were competing followed behind him. The sound of the orchestra playing Chariots Of Fire only sealed the magical moment that was soon to begin. It was at the right place and the right time. Hearing the orchestra play the theme, Elsa felt it speak down to her soul. It was as if the music piece carried everything that she had fought and lived for, up to this incredible moment. It was the theme of something great. Four hours later, it was to go home and rest up. Tomorrow was the first day of the games, and the first day for men's gymnastics Qualification's, and Elsa wanted to be well-rested and ready so she could be there to support Hans, who was so nervous, he couldn't fall asleep until after midnight.

No matter what, Hans and Elsa were determined to give their families and friends, and the world what they got. After all, this was the biggest event of their young lives.

The men's gymnastics qualifications started the next day, August 7, at five in the evening. Elsa and Hans were amazed to see dark blue, almost black colors of the arena, the lights casting on them overhead, gave the arena a dramatic, and somewhat eerie feel, but maybe that was just Hans and Elsa. Elsa and her family, and Hans's family were sitting in the stands, waiting for everything to begin. Back at home, Gerda, the Uncle's, Aunt's, cousins, and coach Kai were sitting in front of the TV, watching. As soon as Hans walked in the arena, and saw the Olympic rings symbol, he knew, this was it.


	14. A Dream Achieved

14~ A Dream Achieved

The first event for Norway men's was floor, which was one of Hans's strongest events. He was the first one to go up, so Hans was determined to start off with a bang.

"Going first on floor for Norway is two-time floor, vault, and parallel bar world champion, Hans Westagard, also known as Powerhouse," said Chris, the male announcer who was live on TV.

"In my book, he certainly lives up to his name," said Jill, the female announcer who was sitting next to him. "Just look at how high he tumbles when he gets off the floor, especially in his first tumbling pass, a double layout."

"Well, let's see if Hans can do some damage tonight," said Chris. And by damage, he meant it in a good way.

Hans saluted and started his routine. He carefully and calmly did his skills, and told himself he could do it. Hans had five tumbling passes in his routine. His first pass was the double back layout, and the crowd cheered when he landed. His second pass was a triple twist, his third was a full twisting double back tuck, just like Elsa had in her routine, his fourth tumbling pass was a front handspring to a double front tuck, and his fifth pass was a punch front layout to two full twists. Hans got a 15.45 out of 16.00 on floor, off to a good start. Elsa cheered happily along with everyone else.

Instead of one vault, Hans did two. His first vault was a round off back handspring half turn on the vault table to an Armanar. His second vault was a front handspring to a double front tuck. All together, Hans got a 15.62 out of 16.00 for his vault. Another great performance. For rings he got a 14.32 out of 15.00, 15.89 out of 16.00 for parallel bar, 14.00 out of 15.00 on high bar, and 15.12 out of 16.00 for pommel horse.

In the qualifications round in gymnastics, only the top eight teams can advance to the team all-around. At the end of the qualification round, the top teams for men were chosen. United States came in first, Russia came in second, Norway came in third, China in fourth, Japan in fifth, Germany in sixth, Canada in seventh, and France in eighth.

"What a day!" Cried Hans to Elsa as he plopped down on the bed after his shower and changing into some comfortable lounging clothes.

"You looked wonderful Hans," said Elsa smiling.

"Thank you," he said. "Tomorrow's your turn."

Elsa sighed nervously. She knew she would have trouble sleeping that night. Maybe she should have a glass of milk before bed so that she could sleep. As she was thinking about this, Hans asked her a question.

"Elsa, how long have, you know, liked me more as a friend?" Hans asked.

"Since that day you were teaching me how to do a full twisting double back tuck and I landed on top of you," replied Elsa.

"What? That long? Why didn't you say anything?" Hans asked in surprise.

'Why didn't you say anything?" Elsa shot back.

"I don't know," said Hans.

"Well, I guess we were both scared to say anything until now," said Elsa. "Looks like the Olympics were a blessing after all."

Hans smiled. He reached for Elsa and she didn't protest when he kissed her on the lips. They stayed that way, caught up in the moment. Suddenly, the door opened and Hans and Elsa quickly stopped kissing.

"Elsa, your favorite show is on," said Anna walking into the room.

"Okay, I'm coming," said Elsa. She looked back at Hans and winked at him before walking out.

The next day at five in the evening, the women's qualifications began. Elsa saw her archenemy, well, kind of archenemy, Malissa Turney of the United States, as one of the members of the five chosen for the United States. Elsa was not surprised, Malissa was good on beam as well as Elsa, but they didn't call Elsa Queen Of the Beam for nothing. Elsa tried not to focus on Malissa and focused on getting herself ready in competing mode.

"Oh, I'm so nervous, I think I'll vomit the second I go out there!" exclaimed Astrid.

"I hope not," said Elsa. "You'll do fine. Besides, floor is your best event."

"I know, but this is just so…. So… I can't even describe it!" Astrid cried.

"I know," said Elsa. "Me too."

Elsa, Astrid, Camille, Lily, and Sarah all looked fashionable in their leotards that had the colors of Norway on them.

"Well, it's time to start," said Elsa drinking a swig of water and putting it back in her bag. "It's five-thirty."

Live on TV, Jill and Chris opened the show. The first event was vault, and Elsa did her round off back handspring to an Armanar. She jumped back a bit on the landing, but she still got a good score.

"Off to a good start for Elsa Anderson with a 15.55 out of 16.00 on vault," said Chris.

"A little bit of hop back on that landing, but still, a nice, clear start, and that's what Norway needs," said Jill.

The next event was floor, and Elsa got a 15.21 out of 16.00. Elsa wished she could get higher. Oh well, it was better than bars, which were coming up next. Elsa watched Astrid during her routine. She seemed to tumble so flawlessly without hardly a wobble. Astrid's strongest event was floor, just like Elsa's was beam, and Sarah was the strongest on bars. Astrid got a 15.67 out of 16.00 on floor, and Sarah got a 15.62 on bars out of 16.00. Elsa got a 15.01 out of 16.00.

"We all have our weak points, as well as our strong points," thought Elsa to herself.

At long last, the final event, beam. And Elsa, didn't mean to brag, but she hoped Malissa Turney was watching, because the Queen of The Beam was about to set it on fire. Press handstand to pike through support, turn, wolf turn, stand up, turn. Split jump, Sissone, step, prepare. L-turn, finish. Pose, step, prepare. Back handspring to back layout to two feet, finish. Dance choreography to Barani with wolf jump connection. Two full turns, more dances and poses to switch leap, Tour Jete, standing back pike. Even more dance and pose connections, full turn, prepare. Two back handsprings to Arabian full. The crowd went wild when Elsa finished her routine and saluted. To the audience and the people on TV watching, they had just seen the perfect beam routine. But the judges saw tiny mistakes. Elsa got a 15.78 out of 16.00 for her routine.

"That's my lovely girl," said Hans to himself as he clapped from the stands.

The top eight teams that qualified were United States of course, in first rank. Norway came in second, Russia in third, China in fourth, Japan in fifth, Germany in Sixth, Canada in seventh, and France in eighth.

"Well, this is it," said Hans, when they arrived back at the hotel. "Tomorrow's the men's team all-around, and then the day after tomorrow, the women's team all-around."

Hans and Elsa were nervous, because they knew that only two gymnasts out of each eight countries that qualified for team could be chosen for the final. That was the rule. Two only go to the final, even if someone else had a high enough score to qualify. Hans and Elsa knew, if it was in there destiny, then it would happen. If not, they would still be proud of themselves because they had come so far.

The next night at the men's team all-around, Hans and the four other guys gave it all they got. Hans came close to going out of bounds on floor in one of his tumbling passes, but luckily, he was able to keep himself not to.

"Hans Westagard just keeps it flowing," said Jill. "When other people's routines don't come out great, or the audience looks a little bored, he wakes them right up."

For men's team all-around, United States got gold, Russia got silver, and Norway got bronze. Hans felt excited feeling the medal around his neck, his first real Olympic medal. Even though it was bronze, it was beautiful to him. Hans let his parents, his brother's, Elsa and Anna look at the medal.

"You should bite it, to see if it's real," joked Anna.

"I already did," said Hans with a smile.

And now for the moment of truth, which two Norwegian male gymnasts would compete in the final? Hans and Erik were chosen. The two young men high-fived and hugged, and nearly cried, overjoyed they were going to the final. Elsa and everyone else congratulated them.

The next day, at the women's team all-around, Elsa gave it all she got as well. She shocked the narrators and the audience when she nearly fell off the beam after she landed her back handspring to a back layout. Even Elsa was mad at herself, why did she let herself slip up? Truth was, she had been thinking about Hans kissing her during her routine, and doing so is what caused her to slip up. Elsa reminded herself to focus on her routines and nothing else until the all-around meet was over. For women's team all-around, United States got gold, Norway got silver, and Russia got bronze. Elsa was happy for the silver medal, but she was thinking about beam. Would she get gold? The two Norwegian gymnasts chosen for the women's final was Elsa and Camille. Elsa was sad for Astrid that she did not qualify for individual all-around, she had worked so hard. But at least she had qualified to compete other individual events.

"So, what happened on beam?" Anna asked Elsa on the car ride home.

"I don't know," said Elsa blushing a little as she lied. She couldn't think about her mistake on beam right now. She had qualified for individual all-around. She was going to the finals, and so was Hans.

The next day, the men's individual all-around. Erik got a 15.58 on floor, a 15.22 on vault, a 15.00 on rings, 15.36 on parallel bar, 15.66 on high bar, and 15.1 on pommel horse, putting him in first place all-around gold. Hans got a 15.62 on floor, a 15.61 for vault, a 15.1 for rings, a 15.7 for parallel bar, a 14.68 for high bar, and a 14.84 on pommel horse. The low score on high bar is what put him in second place silver for all-around. None the less, Hans was still praised for all the effort he put in, and he was filled with joy. He was a silver all-around Olympic medalist, and he was proud of it.

The women's individual all-around was a day that Elsa would never forget, and neither anyone else for that matter! Elsa got a 15.36 on floor, a 15.67 for vault, and she managed to pull off a better score on bars with a 15.29. They were getting ready to go on beam, the United States was finishing up with Malissa Turney. With the way the event had been going so far, Elsa had beat Camille on vault by three points, and Camille had fallen on bars, getting a 15.14, putting Elsa in second place position for silver, Malissa would get first if Elsa didn't beat her on beam, and Camille would move up to second and Elsa into third. But in a sport like gymnastics, anything can change, just like that. And that's exactly what happened. Malissa did her front pike, and lost her balance. She grabbed the beam, which was her first major deduction, then she fell off! Elsa, and everyone else were shocked. Hans wondered what would happen next.

"Major uh-oh for Malissa Turney of the United States," said Chris. "Grabbing the beam and falling, that's two points deduction, ouch!"

Although she was seething on the inside, Malissa calmly got back on the beam and finished her routine. But her dismount was shaky, and she stepped back on the landing. Because of grabbing the beam, falling, and stepping back on the landing of her dismount, Malissa got a 14.95, way lower than her usual scores. And the other deductions probably came from other wobbles as well. Then it was Camille's turn on the beam. Elsa bit her nails as she watched Camille. Hans and everyone else were on the edge of their seats. After what seemed like forever, Camille dismounted and finished her routine. She hopped back a bit on her landing, but it was still was a good routine. Camille got a 15.47 on beam. It was Elsa's turn now. What would her score be to determine where she ranked all-around? Elsa took in a very long deep breath, made sure she filled her lungs to capacity with air, then slowly let it out, putting her mind at ease. Her name was called, and she saluted and began. Hans had his fingers crossed, and Anna, Adgar, and Iduna were praying. Elsa squeezed her body as tight as she could, made her body as straight and perfect as possible, to ensure she did not wobble at all. As she prepared for her dismount, she reminded herself of all the important things in life, and then she went in for the kill. Elsa received a standing ovation when she stuck her two back handsprings to Arabian full dismount. With a big smile spread across her face, Elsa saluted the judges again, then walked away.

Elsa got a 15.89 on beam. Malissa's total all-around score was a 60.95. Camille got a 60.31. Elsa's score was a 60.96, just a one-tenths a point higher than Malissa. Elsa had done it! She didn't know how, but she did it! She had claimed gold all-around! Never before had something like this happened before. If Camille hadn't fallen off bars, and if Malissa hadn't fallen on beam, Elsa probably would have gotten bronze. Also, floor being Malissa's worst event probably had something do with it as well, just like how Camille wasn't that good on floor, but better on bars than Elsa, and Elsa had beat her. Still, it just didn't feel possible. What gymnast jumps from the third place spot immediately to first? Well, Elsa Anderson just did, all because she did better on bars and vault than Camille, and Malissa fell off the beam. Tears clouded Elsa's vision as she stood on the first place podium with the gold medal hanging around her neck. Camille was happy she got silver, but Malissa looked angry and sad at the same time she had gotten bronze. She was smothered by hugs and kisses of her family and teammates, praising her. Then, Iduna took a picture of Elsa biting her gold medal.

Elsa lay back in bed, her body tingling and numb with excitement and disbelief. It was after two in the morning, and Elsa knew she should be asleep, but she wasn't. The events that happened five hours earlier all seemed like a dream. Did she really, Elsa Anderson, win the all-around gold medal for Olympic gymnastics at the age of seventeen? Did she just do that? Little ole her? If the heavy gold medal hanging around her neck didn't say anything, she didn't know what did. But it still didn't feel real. None of it did. She still couldn't believe she was competing in the Olympics for crying out loud! Elsa looked at the silver team medal lying on her desk. It was so shiny and pretty. Elsa hoped she could win more medals, for it wasn't over yet. They still had individual apparatus to go to. Tomorrow, or should she say, later on tonight, it would be men's vault and floor. Elsa knew Hans had it in the bag. The next morning, Elsa smiled as she watched the news lady do a re-cap of what happened yesterday.

"And what a night it was last night for women's gymnastics! After a poor performance on bars that included a fall from Camille Johnson, and a major error and fall from Malissa Turney on balance beam, Elsa Anderson, Queen of The Beam, fights back and steals the all-around gold title! What a show!" Elsa smiled as she heard the news lady say these words. It indeed was a show.

"Tonight in gymnastics is men's vault and floor, and in swimming, men's 200 meter freestyle,"

Anna had been watching swimming. There was a girl who was on the women's swimming team, her name was Anna as well, and she was good. Anna hoped the other Anna would get a gold medal for the 200 meter freestyle.

Just as before, everyone sat in the arena to watch the men's vault and floor. In gymnastics, the individual apparatus events are for those who qualify high enough to get to perform on that event. So even if a gymnast did not advance to the final, if they qualified for example, on vault and beam, they would still get to compete. Hans told himself that he had this. He was good on vault and floor. Although, he knew Erik could beat him if he didn't watch out. Hans just reminded himself that he would do the best he could. If he didn't get anything, he would still have a bronze team medal and an silver all-around medal waiting for him at home. For vault, Hans got a 15.79. Erik got a 15.77, and a man named Jeremy from the United States got a 15.72. Hans got gold, Erik got silver, and Jeremy got bronze. When they stood on the podium, Hans, Erik, and Jeremy politely shook each other's hands, telling each other it was a good game. More than ever, Hans was excited he had received his first gold medal. For floor, Hans got a 15.63, Erik got a 15.66, and Jeremy got a 15.61. Erik got gold, Hans got silver, and Jeremy got bronze. Hans could have gotten gold on floor, but he was just feeling tired. So much competing had been these past couple of days! Hans now had three medals, one gold so far.

The next night, women's vault and bars. For vault, Astrid got a 15.54, Elsa got a 15.56, and Malissa got a 15.61. Gold for Malissa, silver for Elsa, and bronze for Astrid. For bars, Elsa did not qualify, so she sat out. Sarah got a 15.67 on bars, Camille got a 15.52, and a girl named Emily from the United States got a 15.15. a gold for Sarah, a silver for Camille, and a bronze for Emily.

The other Anna that Anna had been watching on TV won gold for the 200 meter freestyle, which both Anna's were happy about.

Next, it was men's rings and high bar. Erik got gold with a 15.68. a young man from Russia named Abram got silver with a 15.63, and Hans claimed bronze with a 15.55. Since Hans did not qualify for high bar, gold went once again for Erik, silver for Jeremy, and bronze for Abram.

The next day after that, women's floor. Astrid claimed gold with a 15.82 out of 16.00. Lily claimed silver with a 15.62, and Elsa surprisingly got bronze with a 15.34. But that was not the only surprise. For the first time in Olympic history, the United States had not claimed a medal on an event, and it was the first time ever that three Norwegian gymnasts claimed all three of the medal ranks. Elsa, Astrid, and Lily were immediately dubbed the nickname, The Three Musketeers. It was amazing. So far, this Olympics had been the most surprising Olympics ever. And Norway, who usually wasn't that good in gymnastics in Olympics, was now turning things around with a bang. Elsa and Hans were tired from so much competing, but they knew they couldn't stop now, especially since it was almost over. All that was left for men was pommel horse and parallel bar, and Hans was determined to do his best so that he could go out with a bang. For pommel horse, Hans managed to get a 15.22 out of 16.00. He had slipped a little bit on one of his skills, but managed to grip the handles and stay on. Hans got fourth place for pommel horse, just two-tenths of a point shy of bronze that was claimed by Jeremy. Elsa held her breath as she watched Hans do parallel bar, his strongest event. He seemed to flow easily like water on the apparatus, and Elsa just hoped he would get a good score. When he landed, everyone cheered loudly, and Hans felt good about himself. He saw his score. A 15.91 out of 16.00! Hans walked away with a gold medal for parallel bar.

"I knew you could do it!" exclaimed Elsa grabbing him into a hug. Hans blushed.

"I didn't expect my score to be so high," said Hans. "I don't feel like I got a 15.91."

"Maybe the judges were feeling generous today," said Anna.

"If that was the case, everybody could walk away with a gold medal," said Elsa.

"I've seen it happen before," said Anna. "Remember Gabby Douglas from 2012? Everyone was saying Jordyn Weiber was better than her, yet Gabby got higher scores than her."

"Well, I guess maybe judges do feel generous sometimes," said Hans. He smiled as he looked at his face shining on the gold medal. He blew some breath on it and polished it with his sleeve before placing it gently among his other medals. He and Elsa headed down to the hotel café to talk and chill. The men were done. Tomorrow was the last day for women, and then they could go home. It was just beam, so this meet would be short.

"I can't believe it's almost over," said Astrid. "We did it."

"We sure did," said Elsa smiling happily.

"There'll be a big celebration for us when we return," said Camille.

"I hope so," said Astrid.

The next day, on the final day for women, Elsa couldn't wait for her turn, but at the same time, she was nervous, and very tired. She didn't know how she was awake right now. She was ready to go home, but she knew she had to fight through this last final event she had trained so hard on. When it was Elsa's turn, she took a deep breath and reminded of all the hard work that had brought her here to this day. She chalked up her hands and feet, marked the beam with the chalk and waited.

"Come on Elsa!" She heard her teammates say not far behind her.

Elsa heard her name over the announcement, she saluted the judges, and mounted the beam. This was it, the final moment. For Elsa, she felt it was all or nothing. Every jump, every leap, every acrobatic skill, people cheered and clapped for her. When Elsa dismounted, she received standing ovation. Smiling, tired, and filled with happiness, Elsa saluted and walked away. Her teammates and coach hugged her tightly. Elsa's score was a 15.93 out of 16.00, putting her in first place for gold. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she was handed her gold medal. Then, everything hit her all at once, the realization of everything she had done and accomplished, that she never thought she could do, it all hit her at once, and with her gold medal in hand, Elsa cried tears of joy, with her teammates, Hans, and her family around her supporting her, holding her. Eventually, they all started feeling emotional too, and they all wiped tears from their eyes as well.

Hans had a total of six medals. Two gold, two silver, and two bronze. Elsa had five medals. Two were gold, two were silver, and one bronze.

Elsa was shocked when she was given the honor of the flag bearer for the closing Olympic ceremony. She felt proud and full of great respect as she walked through the arena, holding up the flag. At long last, it was over, everyone was packing up and going home. They were sad to say goodbye to Japan, but they were tired and couldn't wait to get back home. Elsa was so tired, she slept mostly the whole plane ride back and couldn't wait to get back to her own house that she hadn't seen for two years. When the plane landed back in Norway, there were people waiting for them, clapping and cheering. Afterwards, Elsa and Hans said goodbye to their teammates, and wished them good luck, then they headed home, at last. When they turned into their neighborhood, they smiled. So far, nothing looked different, but then they saw crowds of people standing outside their homes cheering and waving signs that said, **CONGRATULATIONS HANS AND ELSA** , and **WELCOME HOME OLYMPIANS!**

"All of this is for us?" Elsa said in disbelief.

"What do you think?" Anna said smiling at her.

"I don't believe this!" Elsa said in shock, but she was smiling.

Hans couldn't believe it either. So many people, every person on the block was outside holding a streamer or a sign of some sort, and cheering for them, them. Some people crowded the street and they moved out the way as the cars drove slowly past them.

"It was everyone's idea," said Iduna. "We wanted to give you all a coming home celebration like no other, so we called Gerda, and she went out and spread the news to all the people in the neighborhood. Her husband even went down to the local news station so they could come and do a report to put in a news article."

"No way…." Elsa trailed. "This is just, wow!"

When the cars stopped and Hans and Elsa got out, everyone began to swarm around them like bees to honey.

"Alright! Alright! Don't smother the children!" Gerda said pushing through the crowds to reach Hans and Elsa. She looked at Hans and Elsa and grabbed them in a tight hug.

"My gold medalists!" She exclaimed happily.

Pretty soon, all the cousins, uncles, and aunts arrived and hugged and congratulated Hans and Elsa as well. After what seemed like an eternity of hugging and greeting people, Hans and Elsa were covered in everyone else's scent. The news people had taken their pictures for the paper, and now Hans and Elsa were tired and hungry. After they ate the good food that had been whipped up for their return, the neighborhood people didn't linger around much longer, and then Hans kissed Elsa on the cheek, and he said goodbye as well.

Elsa smiled as she sat on her bed. Her room smelled different, it felt different. She had not been home for two years. But now here she was, she was home again, and yes, things were different, Elsa realized. She had left home a little girl, unsure about where the journey was taking her, not knowing what to do, and now she had come home a woman, filled with a new re-found self of sense and purpose. And not only that, she had made a title for herself, achieving something that most people didn't have the courage, or sometimes the chance to do something as great as she did.

She was Elsa Anderson, Queen of The Beam, all-around Olympic gold medalist, inspirer, fighter, best friend. She thought about Hans, a lover. As Elsa unpacked her things, she thought to herself, "What's next?"


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

Adgar bought a special glass case that Elsa could put her medals in for safe keeping. Iduna put the pictures of Elsa performing and holding her medals up on the wall for all to see and to remember. They all would cherish this for the rest of their lives. Hans put up his pictures and medals too. His family was proud of him, even his brother's and his father were a bit nicer to him. It was nice and all, but it made Hans feel a little sad inside. It was shame that it took to doing something such as winning a medal in the Olympics to impress somebody and make them nice to you, especially if that person was a family member. Over the next month or so, Hans and Elsa appeared on talk shows, took pictures for magazines and articles, did photo and video shoots for commercials on TV. Elsa did a commercial for an advertisement for a razor. In the advertisement, it featured Elsa leaping and flipping through the air, showing clean shaven legs that were shiny.

"For Elsa Anderson, perfect, is everything," said the commercial narrator. Then the next scene showed Elsa using the razor and shaving her legs.

"That's why she trust's Colette razor's. It makes the perfect shave, every time," said the narrator.

While Elsa fun shooting the commercial, she felt that the term, "perfect is everything," didn't apply to her. Sure, it felt good to be perfect every now and then, but it didn't matter all the time. The money came rolling it, so Elsa was satisfied she did her job.

One of the downfall's of being famous Olympic gymnasts is that Hans and Elsa sometimes found it hard to go out in public to have fun. At the store, at the mall, they were encountered by people asking for signatures. It was alright at first, but after a while, deep down, Hans and Elsa were sick and tired of all the attention. They had stopped by their old gym, and visited coach Kai, who hugged them and was very proud of them. He had watched them grown up, like they were his own children. From Level 4 TOPS to Olympic gymnasts, they had truly come a long way. Now and forever, Flipstar Gymnastics would be known as a gym that was the home of two Olympians.

One late fall day, Hans and Elsa were walking through the park, holding hands, officially boyfriend and girlfriend. The wind and leaves were swirling around them, and they were happy. Hans and Elsa stopped under an oak tree with red and yellow turning leaves and they rested against the thick trunk of the tree.

"What a year," said Elsa breathing out heavily.

"You can say that again," said Hans. "I feel like I could sleep for a year too."

"I never knew life could be so kind to you if you allow it," said Elsa.

Hans chuckled. "What makes you think about that?" He asked.

Elsa shrugged. "Just do. Life is like probability. You don't know what you're getting, but sometimes if you make the right decisions, you might be able to determine the outcome," she said. She smiled at Hans. "To think, if I hadn't listened to you about going to the Olympics, we wouldn't be here today talking about it and those medals wouldn't be at home in glass cases."

"This is true," said Hans. He looked over at Elsa. "So, you ready to start training for next Olympics?"

Elsa threw back her head and laughed. "I think we better slow down a bit right now," she said smiling wide.

"No rush, I'm ready whenever you are," said Hans smiling playfully.

The two looked at each other sweetly, then stared off into the bright, golden sun shining its rich, amber rays over them.

 **And that's it. I know this wasn't much of a story, but this is an AU I wanted to make for a while. I wrote this fic because I love gymnastics, and was a gymnast myself. I love Hans and Elsa as well and think they would be cute together if Hans hadn't acted like a douche just to get the throne. Sorry for the long wait as well, been busy with college work, catching up on TV shows, and in the process of getting my first novel ready for publication. I'm so excited. I hope to get published. It's a dream of mine to become a bestselling author while I'm still in my teens. Thank you for those who stuck around all this time, following and favoriting, and my next fic will be something in the Samurai Jack fandom. Normally, I would ask for reviews, but I've come to learn that asking all the time doesn't always guarantee an answer, or an action. It's like asking the question "why?" if you continue to ask why about everything you'll just worry yourself to death wondering. Anyway….. stay tuned for my next fic!**


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